


A Southern Summer

by Epy



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Country & Western, Eventual Romance, F/F, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Summer Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-29 00:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3875887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epy/pseuds/Epy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami is trapped in the middle of nowhere for the summer. It's a jarring transition, coming from the city, but lucky for her she finds someone to spend time with. Someone her own age, a girl named Korra who lives just beyond the hill. As the summer stretches on they get to know one another, become friends, and eventually more. </p>
<p>Maybe the country isn't so bad after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. That Don't Impress Me Much

Half dead trees passed by in a blur, occasionally breaking to reveal open brown and gray fields. Every now and then a herd of cows would pass, all of them with their heads down eating the grass or staring off blankly into the distance. Rusty fence posts and barbed wire were all that was keeping them from walking out into the middle of the dirt road passing beneath the tires of the truck.

Asami sighed. So this was where she was going to be stuck for the entire summer. Perfect. She already missed the bright lights and neon signs of the city. The sounds of crowds and honking cars still rang faintly in her ears when she closed her eyes. A small smile spread across her lips as the cityscape formed in her mind. All the sights, the smells, everything formed into a foggy image. She reveled in it for a few minutes.

A bump in the road jostled her out of her daydream and sent her hands flying for stability. Stupid dirt roads. Concrete was so much better, and much more reliable for that matter when it came to keeping its shape.

“Sorry about that honey,” a voice apologized from the front seat. She looked up at her uncle – he wasn’t really her uncle, but he and her father had known each other for years and she had spent so much time around him as a child that he was practically family – who had turned his head momentarily to check on her. She forced a smile.

“It’s fine.”

He nodded his head and turned back to the road.

“I’m really glad you decided to spend some time out here. Country life is so relaxing compared to the city. I’m sure you’ll love it.”

“I’m sure I will,” she replied politely before turning back to the window. A collapsed, rusty barn passed by. She frowned. _I just hope the “relaxing” country life doesn’t drive me insane first_ , she thought dismally.

Twenty minutes and more gray fields later they pulled into the driveway of a quaint little house. It was painted an off-shade of white and had dark-blue shingles and window covers, and there was a small circular window in the peak of the roof. Asami had to admit it was a cute little house. It even had a porch, complete with a set of rocking chairs.

She stepped out of the truck and took in the rest of her surroundings. The same gray fields occupied the landscape with splotches of trees missing most of their leaves. Behind the house she could see hay bales lined up neatly in rows. Her uncle’s harvest no doubt. Further in the distance she could see a small cluster of cows milling about in front of a line of trees. She saw the driveway continued past the house and meandered through the field and into the woods. Asami turned her head to the left and saw that the main road continued down and up a large hill in the distance. She could see a white fence and a small speck of a mailbox at the top.

Before she could look around anymore she heard the sound of the door clanging shut. A woman was making her way out to her, arms wide open and a warm smile on her face. Asami smiled and walked into her embrace.

“Oh it is so good to see you,” the woman – her aunt, as she called her – said before pulling back from the hug to examine her. “I swear I’ve been telling my husband that you should come visit us for years, but he never listens. You’ve grown so much since I last saw you!”

“Well if you’d come with me to the city more often you would see her,” her uncle chimed in as he carried her bag into the house.

“And then who would watch the cows? Last I checked you didn’t want to hire any extra help,” she chided.

“Because I don’t trust anyone else with them.”

“Sounds like how my father is with his projects. He won’t let anyone touch them without his express permission,” she finished with her pointer finger raised and a mock authoritative air. Her aunt chuckled before motioning her towards the house. Asami followed next to her, taking note of the cute little beds of flowers on either side of the porch steps. Finally some color in this landscape.

“Your father has always been a workaholic. I was hoping he’d come out here too and relax for a few weeks at least.”

She held the door open for Asami. The first thing she noticed was the smell. It was a combination of fried chicken, fresh bread, and some kind of fruity pie. There was another underlying smell that she couldn’t quite place. It was musty but not in a bad way. The food smell, however, drew her from the long central hallway into the kitchen to her right, where she saw a plethora of foods in the process of cooking. The table was already set with the bread resting on it, and the rest was finishing on a surprisingly modern set of cookware. Modern in that it wasn’t the cast-iron utensils she had been expecting.

“You cooked enough to feed an army honey,” her uncle said, and Asami could hear his boots as he descended the stairs at the end of the hallway.

“I thought it would be nice for Asami to enjoy a good home-cooked, country meal her first night here. Besides, leftovers are never a bad thing.”

“It smells amazing,” Asami replied, not realizing just how hungry she was after the long drive from the airport.

“It’s not quite done. Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes or so. Why don’t you go unpack a little while I finish this?” he aunt suggested as she walked forwards to the stovetop. Asami nodded and made her way down the hall towards the stairs.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he uncle said from the doorway to her right before the stairs, “we don’t really have any other bedrooms down here, so I put you up in the loft. It’s a good size and the ceiling is tall enough so you won’t bump your head.”

“As long as there aren’t any spiders up there I’ll be fine,” she half-joked. Her uncle laughed.

“No promises,” he said with a cheeky grin before he walked past her towards the kitchen. She paused for a moment to stare after him, then looked up the stairs. Oh great.

She ascended the stairs, rounding the turn they made before reaching the door. She opened it carefully and peeked inside. It was a quaint little room with a bed, a chest of drawers, and a small vanity with a mirror. The roof of the room slanted until about halfway down before going vertical, just enough room for the drawers to fit on the right wall. The vanity was up against the straight wall across from the stairs. The head of the bed was situated in front of the left window, which luckily jutted up into the ceiling and created a little more room. _At least I won’t bump my head in the mornings_ , she thought to herself.

It wasn’t a bad room. It just wasn’t what she was used to back home. She sighed and walked over to her bag. Her uncle had left it on her bed, and she unzipped it and began to unpack the things she would need that evening. Her toiletries came out first. A thought suddenly hit her, and she looked around. There were two small doors on either side of the one leading to the stairs. She opened it and was left staring at boxes and pipes. Attic space. She didn’t even bother opening the other one. It would just be more attic space.

_I’ll have to use the bathroom downstairs_ , she thought to herself with a sigh. 

She walked back to her bag and was about to unpack more when a loud noise from outside made her turn. All she saw was a cloud of dust rising above the road when she made it to the window across from her bed. Someone must have just raced down the road. Based on how the dust was settling she guessed whoever it was had come from the hill with the mailbox. For some reason she found herself staring at the little orange speck on the hill. Just beyond it the last of the sun’s light was fading, turning the sky from a grayish blue to a deep navy. It was a strange juxtaposition of color, and oddly reminded her of home. A small smile spread across her face.

“Asami! Dinner’s ready when you are!” her aunt called, startling her. How long had she been staring at that mailbox? She shook her head and quickly grabbed her pajamas out of her bag before going downstairs to join her aunt and uncle.


	2. Remember When

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are pretty calm so far for Asami, except for that loud white truck whizzing by every evening. As it turns out, she'll end up meeting the crazy driver the next night at dinner.

The ceiling fan spun lazily, circulating the slightly cool air around the living room. Asami reclined in a large comfy chair with her book she had brought from home. Sunlight shone in from the front window and warmed her pale skin. She could hear her aunt washing the dishes from lunch in the kitchen across the main hallway. A radio in the same room played classic country music softly. It was a soft, sweet song that she didn’t recognize, but her aunt hummed along to it in a nostalgic sort of tone.

Asami had to admit it was peaceful here. She was used to having more background noise when she read in the city, and the silence was a bit strange at first. The radio helped a little bit, but the choice of music could have been better. Too much twang for her taste.

She flipped the page and paused. She was already two-thirds of the way through the book? A small sigh escaped her. She had hoped this book would be able to last her longer than an afternoon. And she had only brought three books. This was going to be a problem.

She placed the bookmark in its place and closed it gently. As she stood up she stretched out her back and was pleased to feel a few small pops. Her shoulders slumped back down before she started to walk aimlessly around the room, examining her surroundings. 

The chair she had been sitting in faced the kitchen and was close enough to the central coffee table that she could have put her legs up. Her father had sassed her about that habit enough as a child, however, that she tended not to by instinct. Another chair rested to the left of hers, and a small table and lamp sat between them. Cattle magazines and one old interior design catalog were scattered across its surface. The wall behind it was covered in family pictures, including one of her when she was a little girl. Her aunt and uncle didn’t have children, so she was the sole representative of her age group there. Her eyes wandered past the window behind the lamp to the other wall, where a large bookcase took up most of it.

Asami walked over to it, hoping to find something interesting for future reading. Unfortunately most of it fell under three categories: cattle, cooking, and photo albums. There was one mechanical book about tractors. Maybe she could take a look at that one. She did have a thing for tinkering and was going to be studying mechanical engineering next year in college. Could be useful.

The rest of the bookshelf held little knick-knacks from what she guessed were antique shop trips. A little glass bird, a small metal pump jack, a plaque that read “Best in Show” for some cattle competition, and finally a carved wooden cross with a dove flying in front of it. She ran a finger over each one, imaging the stories she would undoubtedly hear about them at some point this summer.

“Get tired of reading?”

She jumped at the sound of her aunt’s voice and turned to see her standing in the entrance to the living room with a rag in her hand.

“Just thought I’d look around,” Asami explained. She walked back over to the coffee table and picked up her book.

“It’s strange isn’t it? How calm it can be out here,” her aunt said, and she paused. She looked up at her and saw the knowing look in her eyes.

“Yeah,” she answered. “I’m used to a LOT more noise.”

Her aunt chuckled. “Well then it should make you happy to hear that we’ll be having some guests over tomorrow night.”

“Oh?”

“Our neighbors down the road are coming over for dinner. We haven’t had the chance to visit with them for a few weeks, what with my husband focusing on getting the cows ready for the summer heat. Plus with all the campaigning that man does I’m surprised he even had a free evening.”

Asami raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Oh, Tonraq is one of our state’s legislators,” he aunt explained. “Has been for quite some time now. Good man, always looking out for the smaller folks around here. He and his family have been friends with us for a few years now, but it’s been so long since we got the chance to sit down and chat.”

A politician. If only her father were here. She was sure some interesting debates would come out of that dinner table banter.

“I hope you don’t mind honey. I figured a change of pace would be nice after the last few days.”

“I don’t mind,” Asami said with a smile, “it will be nice to meet some new people.”

Her aunt gave her a big smile.

“That’s good. Now I need to go and weed the flowers outside. Want to help me?”

“Sure,” Asami answered with a shrug. At least it was something to do.

She was handed a pair of gloves. Admittedly she’d never done this before, but after her aunt showed her what was good to keep and what wasn’t she quickly fell into a routine. In an odd way it felt similar to when she would sit and mess with the radio back home, taking it apart and putting it back together over and over again. Not completely mindless, but comfortably numbing. Except this entailed a lot more back pain. She stood up and flexed her back for a moment and found her gaze going back to that mailbox.

The past few evenings she had heard that same roar of an engine come down the road. It was like clockwork, always half an hour before sunset. Occasionally she would catch sight of the vehicle in question: a large white truck. It went too fast for her to make out anything else, including the driver. Whoever it was had a thing for speed.

“Something on your mind?” her aunt asked, and she turned to see her throwing a few more weeds into their discarded collection.

“Does anything big happen in town on a nightly basis?”

Her aunt paused. “Not that I’m aware of, why?”

“I keep seeing this white truck race up the hill around sunset each night.”

“Oh,” her aunt chuckled, “that’s just Korra. Don’t mind her, she does that.”

“Any idea why?”

“Not a clue.”

Asami turned back to the mailbox. _Korra._ What a strange name. Definitely not native to these parts then. She wondered for a moment where she could be off to in such a hurry, but the very loud bleat of a cow drew her back out of her thoughts. She settled back down into the flower bed to get the last of the weeds.

\----------

Asami was putting on the last of her eye shadow when she heard a loud knock on the front door. Voices filled the hallway downstairs. She heard a pair of footsteps make their way up the stairs and saw her uncle poke his head in the door.

“Asami, our guests are here,” he said. Asami turned in her seat and nodded.

“I’ll be down in just a second.”

Her uncle nodded back and closed the door. She could hear the thump of his boots on the floor as he made his way to the living room. Asami turned back to the vanity mirror and finished off the last of her makeup. She took a moment to examine herself. The red blouse she had on was simple, but it fit her nicely without being gaudy or inappropriate. She chose to go with a pair of skinny jeans tonight and some short black boots that cut off just above her ankles. Her long black hair spilled over her shoulders nicely and had just enough volume and shine. She had put on just a little more makeup than usual this evening, a bit more eye shadow and a slightly darker shade of red for her lipstick that made her green eyes stand out.

She looked good. Not show off good, but just good. And she liked it. Her mother had always said that a little make up could do wonders for one’s confidence. Her smile faded slightly for a moment before the sounds from downstairs drew her back from the sad memories. She gave herself a quick smirk in the mirror before heading down.

Laughter echoed from the living room, and she tried to walk down the hallway as quietly as possible so she could overhear the conversation.

“That’s what I told him! You can’t just let ‘em feed on the grass all day. They need hay for Pete’s sake!” her uncle exclaimed between laughs. She heard a deeper, booming laugh join in just before she reached the entryway.

“I don’t know how that man hasn’t killed his poor cows yet. You wouldn’t believe how many complaints I’ve gotten about it. Unfortunately there’s nothing I can do to make him do more for them.”

“I imagine most of those complaints have come from my husband?” her aunt teased. 

“You’re damn right! I’m the poor soul who has to stare at those things all day while I’m working with mine!”

Laughter filled the room again, and Asami sensed a break in the conversation. She slid into the entryway and coughed quietly. Her aunt noticed her and stood up with a big smile on her face.

“There you are! I was worried a spider was holding you hostage up there,” she giggled. Asami rolled her eyes.

“I may not like them, but I’m not about to let one hold me hostage. I’ve got enough pairs of shoes with me to scare them all off.”

Her uncle laughed, along with the man sitting on the couch. He was a big man with darker skin and long black hair tied up into a low ponytail. His strong jaw gave him an intimidating presence, but the crinkled skin around his eyes betrayed his love for laughter. He was dressed in jeans, a navy and white checkered button-up shirt, and a black jacket over it. And of course he had on his own pair of cowboy boots.

“Tonraq, I’d like you to meet Hiroshi’s daughter, Asami. She’s practically my niece with how close her father and I are.”

Asami walked over to the tall man and reached out her hand, and was met with a firm handshake and a kind smile as he stood to greet her.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard nothing but good things.”

“Same here,” Asami replied, and she saw Tonraq’s eyebrows shoot up for a moment before turning to her uncle.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually making my case now.”

“I had nothing to do with that,” her uncle scoffed, but Asami could tell he was teasing. “You can blame my wife for that good impression.”

“Speaking of which, I’d like you to meet my wife, Senna,” Tonraq said, gesturing to the woman sitting on the couch as he sat back down beside her. She had the same darker complexion, but her face was much softer. Her dark hair was done up in two braids that fell below her face. In a strange way it reminded Asami of the style she’d seen Native Americans wear in her history books. She wondered for a moment if maybe they were.

“Nice to meet you Asami,” she said, extending her hand out like her husband had. Her grip was not as firm, but it was equally as inviting.

“Nice to meet you too.”

“I’ll go grab another chair from the kitchen for you,” her aunt called as she walked across the hall. Asami hadn’t even noticed that all the chairs and the couch in the living room were completely taken up. She turned to offer her help, but then noticed the chair already sitting next to the couch.

She was about to ask about it when she heard footsteps coming down the hall from the bathroom. A figure, slightly shorter than her, made their way into the entrance and then stopped right in their tracks. Ice blue eyes locked wither hers and went wide.

Asami was met with a girl who she guessed was about the same age as her. Her copper skin matched the tone of Tonraq and Senna’s, and she quickly surmised that she was their daughter. She wore a pair of dark jeans, dark brown cowboy boots, and a short-sleeved light blue and white checkered shirt that was open to reveal a white cami underneath. Her dark brown hair was cut just above her shoulders and hung loosely around her face, which held the same softness as Senna’s. Asami could tell, however, that she had the same strong build as her father, if her exposed arms were any clue.

“Korra, this is Asami,” Senna said. 

She blinked. “Wait, you’re Korra?”

Korra blinked. “You’ve heard of me?”

“My aunt said you were the one who keeps driving that big white truck down the road in the evenings.”

Asami saw something click behind Korra’s eyes, and she seemed to relax a bit. “Yeah that’s me. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of you though.”

“Nonsense,” Tonraq said, and Asami turned to look at him, “you hear about her all the time when we come over here to visit.”

“Oh, wait, you’re THAT Asami?” Korra said, and Asami saw her rub her neck and give her a sheepish, lopsided grin. “My bad.”

“Come on Korra, it’s not like there’s that many Asami’s around these parts. Who else would we be talking about?” her uncle teased. Korra shot him a look and threw her hands up in the air.

“I don’t know. Sheesh, you guys are so mean,” she said with a huff as she plopped down into the empty chair by the couch. She folded her arms over her chest and pouted. Asami couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her, and she tried to cover her mouth as best she could to hide it. She saw Korra look up at her with an expression that she couldn’t quite read.

“Here you go Asami,” her aunt said as she returned from the kitchen with a chair. She set it down next to Korra, who looked over at it in surprise.

“She’s sitting here?” she asked. Asami was taken aback a little bit by question, but she hid her surprise.

“I thought she might like to sit next to someone her own age. She’s been stuck with us older folk for days.”

“You don’t mind, do you Korra?” Asami asked, an innocent but slightly accusing hint in her voice. Korra must have picked up on it, because she cleared her throat and readjusted herself in her chair nervously.

“N-No. Not at all. I just figured you’d want to sit with them,” she explained quickly with a gesture of her hand. Asami examined her face for a moment, trying to pick up on any hostile hints. She was content when all she saw was embarrassment and took her seat gracefully. At least she felt bad about how she had said it. She knew she probably hadn’t meant anything by it, but she’d come across plenty of girls back home who used lines like that, so she was naturally cautious.

The rest of the night went well. She found Tonraq and Senna to be very nice people and they made a point to try and include her in the dinner conversation as much as they could. They seemed to understand her disconnect, which relieved Asami to no end. Korra, on the other hand, was fairly quiet for most of the night. Every now and then Asami caught her glancing over at her from the corner of her eye, and any time their eyes would meet Korra would quickly look away. Asami assumed she must have been sizing her up, trying to figure out what kind of person this city girl was. It amused Asami a bit. She bet she could surprise this country girl in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be two chapters, but I decided that it worked better together as one. I was also a bit worried I was going overboard on the description of the living room. I think it works though since that's where the main meeting happens. (Plus I like giving nice descriptions about locations. I'm a very visual person so I like to be able to see the room where things are happening.)


	3. Ready To Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami's new routine gets interrupted when she happens to run into Korra.

Rocks and dirt crunched beneath her tennis shoes. Her breathing was deep and in-time with the bouncing of her ponytail on her upper back. Sweat gathered in her eyebrows, and she reached up to wipe it away occasionally.

_These hills are going to kill me_ , Asami thought to herself as she struggled to stay upright. She was making her way down the hill for the second time and attempting not to fall and roll down it like a ragdoll. The flat sidewalks of the city were much easier to manage, even with the crowds. Still, she knew that she wasn’t going to have much choice when it came to running locations here. She would have to make do.

She’d gotten into a routine soon after arriving here. Mornings were spent relaxing and reading, and late afternoon was spent doing some form of exercise before dinner. Most days she would just go for a walk, but today she’d felt the urge to run. Her burning calves would definitely make her second guess that urge in the future.

The hill bottomed out and began to change its slope. Asami found herself fighting against gravity as she made her way up the other hill. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself mentally to keep going. Her fitted workout shirt was now sticking to her because of how much she was sweating, and she was fairly certain her running shorts were starting to chafe the area between her thighs. But she pressed on, the Rocky theme unconsciously popping into her mind and making her chuckle.

At last she made it to the top. She spotted the orange mailbox and made a point to slam her hand down on its surface.

“Take that,” she breathed, a victorious smile on her face as she looked back at her accomplishment.

“Not bad,” a voice suddenly called from nearby, and she jumped and turned around. On the other side of the fence she spotted a familiar white truck parked on a dirt road that ran down the side of the hill. Standing with one arm on the bed of the truck was Korra with a small smirk on her face. “For a city girl.”

Asami felt her pride swell and she scoffed. “Please, that was nothing.”

Korra laughed, obviously not buying the front she was putting on. Asami shot her a glare and she put up her hands defensively.

“Hey, hey, I’m only teasing. That hill really does suck to run up,” she said as she made her way closer to the fence by the mailbox.

“You run?” Asami asked.

“Not by choice. Most of the time it’s been running away from some stray dog.”

Asami couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image. She saw Korra beam at her as she rested her forearms on the solid part of the fence. Her eyes lingered on her arms for a moment. Damn. She had to admit they were impressive.

“What about you? You a runner?” Korra asked, pulling Asami back to the world. She was a little surprised that Korra was making friendly conversation with her after being so quiet at their first meeting. She had to mentally shake her mind out before answering.

“I’m more of a fast-walker normally, but every now and then I just feel like running.”

Korra nodded. There was a long moment of silence between them before Asami cleared her throat.

“Well, I should probably get back. My aunt will be wondering what’s taking so long.”

“Oh,” Korra replied, as if she had been lost in thought. “Right. W-Well I’ll see you around.”

“Sure,” Asami answered with a polite smile before she taped her hand on the mailbox again.

“I’d be careful about doing that by the way,” Korra said suddenly, causing Asami to turn back around. She had climbed over the fence, and now landed on the ground with a confidence that suggested she had done this a thousand times before.

“What?”

“Hitting our mailbox. This thing is kind of screwy, likes to fall off at random times,” she explained as she knelt down to examine the orange box.

“This is your mailbox?”

“Yep! It’s not much to look at but it gets the job done,” Korra said with a proud grin and small pat on its side. As if to prove her point, the mailbox started to tilt to the side. Korra shot up and grabbed it quickly while muttering a small curse that Asami didn’t fail to catch.

“You weren’t kidding,” Asami observed. She watched, amused, as Korra straightened the thing back out. She held her hands nearby cautiously, waiting for it to move again, but when it stayed in place she lowered them and huffed.

“Damn thing,” she muttered, and she saw her swing her hand as if to smack it, pause, and then lower her hand with a small pout on her face. Asami couldn’t help but giggle at that expression, again.

“So I’m guessing that you and your parents live down that road then,” she said, gesturing to the road where the big white truck was parked.

“Yep! Around the bend there, through those trees.”

“I had no idea,” Asami murmured, almost to herself. She saw Korra’s curious look, and she continued on. “It just never came up in the dinner conversation last week. I figured your family lived closer to town, what with your father being a politician.”

Korra smiled. “You’re not the first to assume that. My family has always been one for wide open spaces though. Never did like being crowded by buildings.”

“It’s not that bad,” Asami countered. Korra looked like she was about to retort, but she closed her mouth and shrugged instead.

“If you say so. You’d know better than I would.”

“Yes. Yes I would,” Asami replied, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking. Korra rolled her light blue eyes.

“Didn’t you say your aunt was expecting you back by now?” Korra said as she opened up the front of the mailbox and took out some catalogues and letters.

“What’s the matter country girl,” Asami teased, “afraid to get into a debate about whether the country or the city is better?”

“Naw,” Korra said before turning to her with a mischievous grin. “I’m more concerned I’d hurt your feelings after pummeling your argument into the ground.”

It was Asami’s turn to roll her eyes.

“My father happens to be a very prominent businessman, and he taught me all his secrets. I’d crush you in a debate.”

“Uh, hello? Daughter of a politician here. I know all of my dad’s tricks too.”

“Well then, looks like we’ll have to settle this at some point in the future,” Asami chuckled evilly, expecting a retort, but instead she saw a look of surprise in Korra’s eyes. And, was it hope she saw there too? A challenging look and a lopsided grin quickly covered it up.

“Definitely. Let me know when you’re ready to get your ass whooped,” Korra called as she hopped back over the fence. She gave her a wave over her shoulder, which Asami returned before she continued on towards her truck. It roared to life and left a large cloud of dust behind. Asami watched as it made its way down the road and disappeared into the trees.

A small smile spread on her lips. Maybe Korra wasn’t so bad after all. A bit cocky, sure, but not bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter is short. The length on these is going to vary from chapter to chapter...sorry.


	4. I Got A Car

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami's ready to take on Korra in that debate, but the battle grounds end up being a little different than she expected.

Two days later Asami was reclining on the couch in the living room reading the tractor manual. It wasn’t the greatest thing she’d ever read in her life, but it was somewhat interesting. She found the diagrams especially intriguing, and wondered if she could get a more hands on experience with her uncle’s tractor at some point. Surely he wouldn’t mind letting her tinker with it a little.

The phone rang out loudly from the hallway. She heard her aunt hurry down the hall from their bedroom and then the small click of the phone being picked up.

“Hello?” she asked as Asami went back to reading. “Oh, hello Korra!”

Asami’s eyes shot up towards the hallway. She could see the edge of her aunt’s right arm holding the phone up. A moment later her aunt turned and locked eyes with her before a small smile spread across her face.

“Yes, she’s right here. Give me one moment,” she spoke into the phone before covering up the mouthpiece. “Asami, it’s Korra. She wants to talk to you.”

“Really?” Asami asked as she set the manual on the coffee table. Her aunt nodded, and she got up and walked into the hall to join her by the small table the phone rested on. She shot a confused look at her aunt, who just shrugged, and then spoke.

“Hello?”

“Hey Asami!” came Korra’s cheerful voice. “What’s up?”

“Not much, I was just doing some reading. Did you need something?”

“Oh, well I was just wondering if you were up for having that little debate?”

Asami blanked. “Debate?”

“Yeah, the one about whether the city or the country is better. You said we needed to settle it at some point, and, well, I figured today was as good a day as any. That is,” she continued, her voice taking on a challenging tone, “unless you’re scared.”

Asami scoffed. “You wish. Just name the time and place.”

“Meet me at the mailbox around two. And be ready to get crushed.”

“Same to you,” Asami replied with an air of confidence before hanging up the phone. Her aunt looked at her curiously.

“Korra wants me to meet her at two. We’ve got an argument to settle,” she said as she made her way back into the living room.

“Oh?” her aunt questioned, and Asami noticed the small amount of concern in her voice. She waved her hand.

“It’s nothing bad, I promise. Just a small difference of opinion about if the country or the city is better.”

Her aunt chuckled before turning into the kitchen. “That should be an interesting debate. Make sure to let me know who wins.”

“She doesn’t stand a chance,” Asami laughed in response as she reached for the manual. She flipped back to her spot and continued reading, arguments and counterpoints already swirling in her head.

\----------

Ten minutes past two, Asami found herself standing by the mailbox. Her foot was tapping impatiently, and the heat was not making things any better. If there was one thing she hated more than being late, it was when other people were late.

She was thankful that she’d chosen to wear shorts today. Nothing special, just some cute little khaki ones. She had a simple dark red t-shirt on that was form fitting, and her tennis shoes were back on her feet. She’d debated wearing flip-flops, but the rocky road would have killed her feet if she had. Her hair was up in a ponytail too, save for the strands by her face. It was way too hot to leave it down.

The sound of tires on gravel made her head turn, and she saw the familiar white truck drive lazily up the road. It stopped just on the other side of the fence. Korra hopped out of the driver’s seat with a grin.

“Howdy city girl!” she called as she made her way to the fence.

“About time you showed up,” Asami huffed. Korra gave her a puzzled look.

“I’m not that late.”

“Ten minutes doesn’t count as late?”

“Not out here it doesn’t,” she explained as she walked around the fence and jumped over the cattle guard. Korra had on jeans and her boots, a navy blue tank top, and had her hair hanging in its usual lazy style around her face. It looked a little more ruffled than usual, however, and Asami couldn’t help but wonder if she’d brushed it at all this morning.

“Well that’s one thing the city does better already,” Asami replied, resting her hands on her hips. “We’re always on time.”

Korra scoffed. “Yeah, yeah, you guys are in too much of a hurry anyways. Country folk like me know how to take things slow and relax.”

“City people know how to do that too.”

“Oh really?” Korra said as she raised one eyebrow. “Then why did your dad send you out here?”

Asami opened her mouth to speak, but realized that she was right. Damn it. Korra crossed her arms over her chest and puffed up triumphantly. The first point was hers and she knew it.

“Alright, you win that one,” Asami conceded as she lowered her hands and made her way over to Korra. “So are we having our debate here, or are we going somewhere?”

The tan girl smiled sheepishly and scratched her neck. “Yeah, about that. I actually have to finish my chores, but I thought you could just ride along and we could talk while I did them?”

Asami paused. “What kind of chores?”

“Nothing big, just getting hay for the cows and taking it out to the feeding troughs.”

That didn’t sound so bad. She could probably relax in the car for most of the time anyways. With the A/C. Yeah, that didn’t sound half bad.

“That’s fine with me, as long as I can stay in the truck with the air conditioning.”

Korra chuckled. “You northerners can’t handle a little heat.”

“This is a little?” Asami asked, flabbergasted, as she gestured to the open air around them.

“Oh just wait until August. That’s when things really heat up around here,” Korra said. Asami groaned. _This place really is going to kill me_ , she thought to herself. Whatever look she had on her face made Korra chuckle again.

“Come on, let’s get your sensitive skin into Naga.”

“Naga?” Asami asked, her head tilting slightly.

“Oh,” Korra said, noticing her confused look, “yeah, that’s what I named my truck. Asami, Naga. Naga, Asami.”

The shorter girl gestured between her and the truck with a crooked smile. The introduction amused Asami and she gave a small wave to the big white truck.

“Hi Naga,” she said. The truck let out a loud beep that made Asami jump a little in surprise. She saw Korra snickering before she spotted the pair of keys in her hand. She must have had them hidden in her pocket.

Asami rolled her eyes and followed her to the cattle guard, and then watched as Korra once again leapt over it with ease. She paused, debating whether copying her tactic was a good idea. The combination of multiple slots to fall in between the pipes, plus the added restriction of her shorts, made her side against jumping over. Instead she took it one pipe at a time, holding onto the nearby fence for support.

She heard Korra let out a snort of a laugh, but she ignored her. At last she made it to the last few pipes, and she quickly hopped over them to solid ground. She looked up at Korra triumphantly. The shorter girl just raised an eyebrow.

“You expecting applause for that?”

“Recognition that a city girl was able to handle that with an air of grace would be nice,” Asami answered with a flip of her ponytail. For a moment Korra’s face was blank, but then she blinked and quickly opened the passenger side door for her. Asami attempted to step up into the tall truck, but she lost her footing for a second and had to grab onto the passenger door.

“You alright?” came Korra’s concerned voice, and she turned her head to see her right behind her, arms open and ready to catch her.

“I’m fine. I didn’t judge the distance very well, that’s all.”

Korra didn’t move from her position as Asami took another shot at getting up into the truck. This time she succeeded, using the grip provided in the ceiling to hoist herself up into the seat. She turned to see Korra still by the open door.

“Korra, I got it.”

She seemed to start a little.

“Right. Just making sure that city girl grace didn’t get you into trouble again,” she teased.

“Shut up,” Asami retorted. Korra smirked and shut her door before making her way around the front of the truck to the driver’s side. She hopped up with one quick movement, and soon they were making their way down the dirt road and around the bend into the trees.

Something brushed against her leg as they turned, and Asami flinched. She looked down to see a white cowboy hat sliding around on the floor. 

“My hat didn’t scare you, did it?” Korra asked, peeking over at her from the corner of her eye. Asami remembered her messy hair again and put two and two together. So that’s why it was that way. Hat hair.

“A little,” she admitted as she reached down and picked it up. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Korra replied, taking it from her hands and placing it back on her head. “My dad gave it to me as a birthday present. It hasn’t left my side since.”

“Wow. You don’t wear any others?”

“Nope. Just the one.”

“Really?” Asami asked in genuine surprise.

“See, that’s the thing about the country,” Korra explained, getting back into the debate. “We’re fairly simple when it comes to clothes. Give us one good, versatile hat, for example, and we’ll wear it until it’s worn to bits. We don’t need a new hat for each day.”

“Don’t you ever want a little variety though? Change things up once in a while?”

“Naw. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Asami sighed and smiled, placing a hand to her cheek as she looked out the front window. “Oh you poor, poor soul. You have no idea how much fun the fashion of the city can be.”

Korra snorted. “I’m not interested in pointless fluff, thank you very much.”

Her head whipped over in Korra’s direction in a flash. “Pointless?”

Korra had no idea what she had just gotten herself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Double chapter update, huzzah! Figured it would be a nice way to celebrate my recent graduation by giving you guys a gift. Woo!
> 
> So, did anyone guess that the truck was Naga? No fluffy friend for Korra in this universe, but a truck is just as much a companion to a country girl as a big polar bear dog is to an Avatar.


	5. Where I Come From

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the debate continues, Asami realizes that Korra isn't like her friends back home.

“And that’s another thing about the city that’s better: we’re closer to all of our shops, including the ones that sell clothes.”

Asami finished what had turned into an in-depth, five-minute rant about the merits of city fashion. From diversity to utility, she had covered all the bases of a good wardrobe. Her mother would have been proud of her defense, and her father to a certain extent, if only for her enthusiasm.

During all this, Korra had busied herself with driving down the tree lined road to a large metal barn in a far corner of their land and attaching a small trailer to the back of her truck. She hadn’t said a word, instead allowing Asami to speak her piece through the open back window. Now that she was done, Korra looked up at her from the back of the truck with an amused, crooked smile.

“So is that your dad’s secret?”

“What?” Asami asked as she met her gaze in the rear view mirror, not sure where she was going with this.

“Talking about something for so long that the opposition loses interest and concedes?” she clarified, the smile turning into a smirk. Asami’s mouth fell open and she turned sharply in her seat.

“You mean you weren’t listening to anything I just said?”

“I heard the first bit, but for the most part,” Korra pretended to be deep in thought and tapped her chin, “nah, not really. It sounded like a good argument though.”

“Unbelievable,” Asami said in an exasperated tone, throwing her hands up into the air. She leaned back into the passenger seat and crossed her arms over her chest. She saw Korra walk up to the driver’s side in her peripheral vision, but she refused to look at her, instead focusing on the corner of the tree line to her right. The truck turned with the curve of the road and continued onwards, trailer loudly in tow behind them.

“You’re not actually mad, are you?” Korra asked after a few quiet moments.

“I’m annoyed.”

“Why?”

“Because you were the one who wanted to have this debate! A part of being in a debate is actually listening to the other side’s arguments,” she ranted. Korra didn’t say anything in response, and for the next minute or two they drove in silence. By the time they reached and parked in front of a domed metal structure where hay bales of all sizes rested inside, the air in the truck was thick with tension. Asami didn’t care. She’d thought hanging out with Korra would be a good idea, but it was infuriating. Every time she’d talked to this girl it had been some kind of sarcastic conversation or playful prodding. It was fine at first, something she was used to in fact, but now it was starting to actually irritate her. She had been hoping to escape that kind of superficiality here, but it looked like she was wrong. Korra was no different than the stuck up girls back home.

“I’m sorry.”

The short statement made her turn to Korra with her eyebrows raised.

“What?”

“I said I’m sorry. About not listening, you know?” Korra was looking at her with the most sincere expression of apology she had ever seen. Her eyes were practically pleading for forgiveness.

Now that was something she had not been expecting. Asami felt her stomach drop and immediately felt guilty about her previously hostile – and incorrect, she now realized – thoughts towards this girl mere seconds ago. 

“It’s fine,” she replied with a small sigh. Korra seemed to release a held breath.

“I’ll be honest, sometimes I’m not the most sensitive person. I don’t always pick up on when I’m going too far. Country ignorance for you,” she finished with a curt laugh.

“That’s one thing the city has in common with the country then” Asami said. Now it was Korra’s turn to look surprised. “The city isn’t exactly sensitive to the feelings of others. We like to build walls to keep people out and ourselves in, and when we do talk to people we forget that they’re human too. It doesn’t mean that you’re ignorant if you don’t catch it because people make it hard to catch in the first place.”

 _Where did that come from?_ Asami wondered. She was being so open with Korra right now. She’d never been this way back home, and certainly not with the girls at school. For some reason, however, she felt comfortable sharing this with Korra. Maybe it was that sincere look that had made her open up? That same look was still evident in Korra’s eyes as she listened, and a small, understanding smile appeared.

“Makes sense,” she said with a small nod. They shared a look of understanding for a moment before realization dawned on Korra’s face and she jumped out in a hurry. 

_She must want to get the chores done as quickly as possible_ , Asami guessed. She watched as Korra lifted the small rectangular bales one by one and hefted them over to the tailgate. Each time she set one down she felt the truck shake a bit. They were definitely big enough to have some weight to them, she guessed, and they soon filled up the back of the truck.

“How heavy are those?” she called as Korra walked the newest bale to the trailer. 

“Enough that I don’t have to do extra work outs to stay in shape,” she replied as she dropped it with a thud. Made sense, based on how well shaped her arms were. Asami found herself staring at her wide shoulders and the back muscles that still clearly showed through her tank top. What she wouldn’t give to have a body like that.

An idea popped into her head. “Can I try?”

Korra turned her head, her hands hovering over another hay bale. “Really?”

“Yeah. I want to see if my city muscles can handle it,” she said as she hopped out of the truck and walked around the front. Korra’s gaze switched back and forth between her and the bale a few times.

“You sure? It’s not as easy as it looks.”

“I won’t know that until I try, now will I?” she replied with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

The shorter girl chuckled. “No, I suppose not.”

Asami squared her shoulders before grabbing the strings that held the parcel of hay together. Her arms strained from the effort, but she did eventually manage to get it up off the ground. She started to side-step her way over, making sure not to trip over any of the little rocks that littered the road.

She could feel sweat starting to form under her arms and on her back as she came closer to the trailer. She could vaguely sense Korra standing nearby watching, but she had to keep most of her focus on the hay so she wouldn’t drop it on her toes. Asami guessed that wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.

At last she made it to the trailer. She took a moment to take a few deep breaths before putting all her effort into throwing the hay bale into the pile. It landed with a loud thud and flopped down the side of the pile. She held her breath as it came dangerously close to the edge of the trailer, but thankfully it settled just before it.

“Nicely done,” Korra said, and Asami turned her head at the sound of clapping. She wasn’t doing it in a derisive way, but in a cute, supportive one. “Wanna give it another go?”

“I…I think I’m done,” Asami wheezed as she allowed herself to bend over and breathe deeply. It was rough, but she did it. She’d have to thank her personal trainer for all that weight training when she got back home. She heard Korra laugh.

“You did good! I have to admit I’m impressed you could handle one of those. N-Not that I thought you couldn’t,” she quickly added after spotting her oncoming glare, “just that I’ve seen guys my age struggle with it too.”

“There are guys our age around here?” Asami asked. This was the first she’d heard of anyone outside of her aunt, uncle, and Korra’s family.

“Yeah, we grow them in the summer and pull them out of the ground by their hair,” Korra joked as she carried the last of the hay bales to the trailer. Asami smiled.

“Had any good harvests lately?” she asked in a suggestive tone. She saw Korra nearly drop the hay bale as her face went bright red.

“W-What? No, no, I haven’t…I’m not…”

Asami couldn’t deny how adorable Korra looked when she was flustered.

“Relax Korra, it’s just a question.”

“I know,” she explained as she regained her composure and put the last bale in. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“So…?” Asami pressed.

“So what?”

“So is there a special guy in your life?”

“Oh. No, not right now anyways,” Korra replied, the blush from earlier returning for a moment. Asami studied her face, recognizing something she had seen in the girls’ faces back home. That look that suggested there was more to the story than they were admitting. If it had been one of those girls she would have kept pressing, but she still didn’t know Korra all that well so she decided against it. For now.

“Ah. Well are they at least somewhat good looking around here? I’ve always heard that country boys are a good catch.”

Korra let out a not so subtle snort. “You clearly haven’t met any then. I’m more than happy to give up the point to the city for the best guys.”

“Based on personality, or on looks?”

Korra seemed to debate that for a moment. “A little of both, actually.”

Asami hummed. Well, so much for finding a guy this summer. She hadn’t given too much conscious thought about it, but in the back of her mind she had secretly been wondering if she’d find some cute country boy to sweep her off her feet. A southern summer romance. Based on Korra’s intel it sounded like that wasn’t about to happen anytime soon.

“Well the hay is all loaded. Let’s head over to the feeding troughs,” she said with a clap of her hands. Asami walked around the front of the truck and maneuvered her way back into the seat while Korra busied herself with opening up a gate in the tree line gap nearby. Beyond it, she guessed, was the pasture where the cows were kept.

“Speaking of feeding, that can be our next topic of debate,” Asami suggested as Korra hopped back up into the truck. “Which has the better food?”

“Hoo boy,” Korra laughed, “you have no idea what you just got yourself into, city girl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short chapter, but I feel like this is an important one. In my experience, people can call each other "friends" but still have a facade that's always up when interacting. Having Asami realize that Korra is being sincere is a huge step in them becoming true friends.
> 
> Also, I noticed I'm putting an unusual amount of thought into this story. I've basically got the layout of Korra's family's land in my head: how long each side of it is, where the house is, where the barns are, how the trees are laid out, etc. SO MUCH DETAIL. Guess I care about this story or something...


	6. Beautiful Mess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami finds herself in a dangerous situation, and yet she feels something odd when Korra comes to her rescue.

The rest of that afternoon was spent trading points back and forth. Korra ended up winning for best food, along with best animals and best scenery. Asami won for best things to do, best overall people, and of course her point for best clothing from earlier. It was pretty much a tie, and they conceded that each type of lifestyle had its strengths and weaknesses. 

That didn’t stop Korra from making playful jabs at her “city girl sissiness” when it came to how she acted around the cows. Especially when walking around the fields. And she thought pigeons were bad in the city. This was a minefield. Now she understood why Korra wore the thick leather boots. Maybe she should invest in some for herself.

Before Korra dropped her off at her aunt and uncle’s house – she wasn’t about to make her walk the whole way back, despite Asami’s urging that it wasn’t a big deal – she asked if she wanted to hang out again the next afternoon. If she wanted to, that is. Asami had given her a kind smile and said she would like that.

And so the next days flew by for Asami. The two girls spent most of the time asking about the other.

“So you’re from Japan?” Korra asked one afternoon as she checked a fence at the edge of their property.

“I’m not, but my father is. I was born here,” she explained as she reclined and swung her feet lazily over the edge of Naga’s tailgate. It was true she had the somewhat slanted eyes and signature black hair of the Japanese people. She didn’t look nearly as Asian as her distant relatives did though, but she didn’t mind. If anything she thought she had a nice blend of features from both of her cultures.

“That’s sweet!” Korra exclaimed.

“What about you?”

“I’m a pure blood Inuit!” she said with a flash of her crooked grin, placing her fists on her hips and standing with her chin jutted out proudly. Asami chuckled.

“Aren’t the Inuit people supposed to be from up north?” she asked.

“Yeah, we are, but my parents decided to move down here when I was little.”

“Any idea why?”

“Dunno,” Korra answered with a shrug, “I guess they thought living here would give us a chance for a better life. Or maybe they were sick of the cold.”

“They definitely chose a good place to avoid that then,” Asami said with a small huff as she removed her ponytail from her damp shoulder. Korra laughed.

The whole time they talked Asami could feel their bond growing. Unlike the girls back home, she actually considered Korra as a friend. There was something she couldn’t quite place that drew her to this country girl. Maybe it was her open personality. Maybe it was the way she could be understanding and caring at the right moment. Maybe it was her goofy, yet charming nature. Either way she was glad she could call at least one person out here her friend.

\----------

A week or so after their debate, Asami was walking down the rocky road near the corner of Korra’s family’s land. She had decided to surprise Korra to get some payback for yesterday’s shenanigans. It was only fair since she had scared the living daylights out of her. The country girl had thought running a piece of grass across her shoulders and declaring that there was a spider would be hilarious. The scream Asami let out had made every nearby cow stare at her. _She’s lucky I didn’t slap her_ , she growled to herself.

She was so lost in her plans that she didn’t see the furry creature amble out onto the road maybe thirty feet in front of her. It was only when she heard the loud, angry grunt that she finally looked up. The dark, beady little eyes that stared back at her made her freeze.

Asami felt her blood run cold. Korra had talked about how wild pigs were a problem out here. And about how aggressive they could be. She took a tentative step backwards, trying to make as little noise as possible. The pig continued to stare her down. She hoped that maybe she could back far enough away that it would see she wasn’t a threat and leave.

A twig snapped underneath her shoe.

_Shit._

The pig let out a wild squeal and charged towards her. Asami barely had time to jump out of the way. She managed to avoid the pig, but her foot slipped on a rock on the road. She stumbled backward towards the woods.

A sharp pain erupted in the back of her left calf, and she let out a painful scream. She felt the blood before she saw it. Her vision swam when she looked back and finally saw what it was: an old, rusty fence post was hidden amongst the underbrush, passed over for years, and she had unfortunately found it. The pointed end had sliced her leg open a good four inches, and she was lucky she had regained her footing before it had completely stabbed into the back of her knee.

She felt her leg throb and she fell forward to her knees with her injured leg extended out beside her. Her right arm kept her up and she tried desperately to cover up the wound with her left. This was not good.

Another loud squeal sent a shock through her nervous system. The pain had made her forget all about the pig, and she looked up just in time to see it turning on the road. It locked eyes with her before stomping a hoof on the ground. Asami’s eyes went wide. With her leg like this there was no way she could dodge another charge.

The pig began to sprint towards her. She closed her eyes tightly. _Please let it be quick_ , she begged.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!”

The sound of feet running on the road, followed by a loud thud and an animalistic squeal of pain made her eyes shoot open. She nearly cried with joy when she saw Korra standing between her and the pig, which was now squirming on its side in the middle of the road. In the country girl’s hand was a tire iron. The pig stumbled to its feet and took off into the woods, with Korra close behind.

“THAT’S RIGHT, YOU BETTER RUN YOU LITTLE SHIT!” Korra bellowed into the woods. Asami could tell her whole body was tensed with rage, and her shoulders rose and fell with each heavy breath she let out. For a moment she just stood there staring into the woods with her fist clenched around the tire iron. Asami tried to move towards her but the pain that shot through her leg caused her to let out a strangled gasp. Korra’s head whipped around, and the wild and angry look quickly changed to concern and panic.

“Asami!” she exclaimed as she ran to her. The tire iron dropped from her hand with a loud clatter as she slid to her knees in the grass. Her hands reached out to hold her shoulders. “Are you ok? What happened?”

“The pig surprised me,” Asami explained through gritted teeth, “I dodged the first charge, but I lost my footing and…well…”

She simply lifted her hand off her leg, which was still bleeding. Korra must not have seen it at first, based on how wide her eyes went when she finally spotted the open wound.

“Oh my god,” she breathed. Her right hand left her shoulder for a moment and hovered in the air. Asami saw the horrified look on her face before it suddenly vanished and was replaced by a determined one.

“We need to get you to the house. Now.”

“I don’t think I can walk,” Asami said. There was no way she could with this injury. Korra was still for a moment before she began to take off her white tank top, revealing a navy sports bra underneath. Before Asami could ask what she was doing she had moved to kneel beside her leg. She gasped when Korra gently lifted her leg off the ground and moved her shirt underneath it. Her teeth ground together as the shirt was wound around the injury, immediately turning red. The final tight pull Korra did made her whimper involuntarily.

“Sorry,” she said with an apologetic look, “but we have to try and stop the bleeding. This should work long enough to get you to the house.”

The next thing Asami knew Korra was flipping her over and hoisting her up in her arms. The sudden movement made her cry out again, and she gripped Korra’s shoulder tightly. The country girl did her best to carry her as gently as she could, making a point to keep the arm under her knees from jostling the bloody shirt-covered wound.

“I need to jog to get you there faster. Will you be ok?” Korra asked, staring down at her to check.

Asami stared back. For a moment she was transfixed, awed by how much genuine concern there was in those bright blue eyes. To think that this girl had come to her rescue without a second thought. Now she was carrying her in those strong arms like she weighed nothing at all, had given up her shirt to protect her wound, and now pressed her protectively against that muscled body she envied so much.

And they’d only started talking about a week ago. 

_She really cares about me_ , Asami realized.

A strange new lightness formed in her chest, and she was suddenly very aware of how close she was to Korra. She quickly looked down, feigning a grimace of pain, and answered.

“I-I’ll manage.”

She felt Korra pick up her pace, and Asami did her best to endure the pain. All the while she could feel her heart beating fast. She assumed it was because of the stressful encounter she’d just had, but something in the back of her mind suggested it was something else entirely. She shut her eyes and scolded herself mentally.

A few minutes later they were turning into a gap in the woods on the left. Asami looked up just as Korra took a sharp right into another gap. After a small stretch of trees a good-sized house came into view. It rested on top of a small hill and was absolutely beautiful.

It was made from a combination of light gray colored stone and polished wooden logs that gave it a rustic feel. A porch stretched across the entire front and circled halfway around one side. The number of windows on the front suggested that there was a full second story as well underneath the gray-shingled roof. A set of stone steps led up to the smooth wooden porch, which Korra was now carrying her up.

“MOM!” she yelled as she kicked at the door. Not ten seconds later the door opened wide. It was Senna.

“Korra? What’s wrong?” she asked as she locked eyes with Asami, noticing the way her daughter was carrying her.

“Her leg. You gotta help her,” Korra said quickly, moving as if to push past her mother. The movement jostled Asami’s leg and she let out a gasp of pain. She felt a pair of hands grab her leg gently and saw Senna holding it steady. Her eyes were focused on the bloody shirt wrapped there.

“What happened?” Senna asked.

“A wild pig surprised me,” Asami explained before Korra could, “and I fell back into a metal post.”

“The cut looks bad,” Korra continued. “Please, we need to get her inside.”

“Yes we do,” Senna said with a nod. “Take her into the living room. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Korra carried her through the doorway and down a hall. It opened up into a large living room that had a similar stone and wood aesthetic as the exterior of the house. Light shone in from the large windows lining the back wall. Asami caught a glimpse of a large backyard and the line of trees separating the house from the fields before she was lowered onto a plush couch covered in pelts. Korra scrambled around the living room, grabbing pillow after pillow to hold her leg up.

Senna returned shortly after with what Asami realized was a medical kit. She placed it on the rug next to the couch and then knelt down. With a small click it opened, but from this angle Asami couldn’t tell what she was retrieving. When the objects came into view she felt her eyes widen. She watched with increasing anxiety as a roll of gauze, multiple little pieces of cotton, some string-like material, a very small needle, and two brown bottles were placed on the nearby coffee table.

“Korra, can you move the table closer for me?”

Asami looked up to see Korra staring at her leg, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Korra,” Senna repeated with a little more force. Korra suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at her mother. “The table, now.”

“Right,” Korra replied with a nod. Once the table was in place Korra stepped back, but her eyes quickly caught Asami’s. They still held that same concern from before, and she felt that lightness appear again. She looked away, but immediately wished she hadn’t as she saw Senna reaching for the shirt. Her hands worked as gently as they could, but that didn’t stop the pain from resurging in her leg. Asami held her breath as the shirt was peeled away.

“Well,” Senna said with a small sigh, “the good news is the cut doesn’t look too deep. You’ll still need stitches though to make sure it heals properly.”

Asami felt a shiver go down her spine. “S-Shouldn’t we go to a hospital then?” she managed. Senna looked over at her and shook her head.

“We won’t need to. I used to stitch wounds all the time up north, most of them worse than this. Plus the nearest hospital is a long ways away.”

Apparently the look on Asami’s face revealed her trepidation. Senna reached up and gently placed a hand on her arm. It was a gesture that felt oddly familiar to Asami, but something she hadn’t experienced in years.

“You’ll be fine. I promise.”

The warm smile she gave her allowed Asami to relax a little.

“Now, did you see what kind of shape that post was in? Was it rusty at all?”

“Yeah, it was.”

Senna hummed to herself and furrowed her brows. “Have you had your tetanus shot?”

Asami nodded, and she saw Senna’s eyes soften again. “Good. I’ll still need to clean the wound out first before I start stitching. Can you turn over onto your stomach for me?”

She nodded again before gingerly turning herself over, making sure not to get any blood on the pelts. Senna began preparing her tools, and soon she had some of the contents of one of the brown bottles – she assumed it was some kind of disinfectant – on a piece of cotton. She held the cotton above the gash and gave her a warning look before placing it gently on the sensitive skin. Asami gasped and her breath came out as a hiss through her teeth.

Suddenly a hand was on her shoulder, and she looked up. Korra was kneeling near her and giving her a sympathetic smile.

“Some day, huh?” Korra said with a flash of her crooked smile. Asami couldn’t help but smile at her attempt to distract her.

“Well it’s a complete mess now. I’m sorry, I should have waited for you to come get me.”

Korra shook her head. “Don’t be, it’s not your fault. Those damn pigs are always causing trouble. I’m just glad I got there when I did. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d been hurt any worse.”

Despite the stinging coming from her leg, Asami still felt the lightness turn to tingling in her chest as she looked into those ice blue eyes. Her mind felt like it was in overload as she tried to rationalize her reactions, attributing most of them to the shock of her experience and her gratitude for her rescue. She willed her mind to clear, with very little success, but it was enough for her to regain her composure and give Korra a smile.

“I doubt that pig would have gotten away if that were the case,” she quipped, and she was relieved when she saw Korra snicker.

“There,” Senna said, and Asami looked at her over her shoulder. “The wound is clean enough for me to numb it and start stitching.”

She felt the blood drain from her face. Korra must have noticed because she felt a small squeeze from the hand still on her shoulder.

“Korra, why don’t you hold Asami’s hand for this? That way she can squeeze it if she needs to.”

And now the blood was back in her face. She looked over at Korra and swore she saw color in her cheeks too. The two exchanged a glance, and then Korra took her hand off her shoulder and offered it.

“As long as she doesn’t break it in the process. I need this hand to do my chores.”

“No promises,” Asami said, only half joking as she took hold of the tanned hand. She expected the callouses and slightly rough texture, but what surprised her was how gentle Korra’s touch was. It was as if she were holding that delicate glass bird her aunt had on the bookshelf.

Before she could think anything else Asami felt the needle go into her skin, and she nearly crushed Korra’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally some action! Admittedly there isn't going to be a ton of action-y type stuff in this story, but it's nice to have a little. Or a lot in this case, seeing as this chapter is one of the longest I've done so far.
> 
> This was one of those moments that I knew was going to happen way back when I first imagined this story. For some reason I've always found that danger tends to bring people closer. I mean hey, Hollywood does it all the time, so why can't I?
> 
> I've never actually had a run in with a wild pig before, but from what my cousins tell me (and how they're constantly on the look out for them when we go on walks) they're nasty little jerks. Hope I never have to see one in person. *shudders*
> 
> Oh, and yes, this story is based in our world. I won't be using any actual place names, but I will allude to locations. Some will be more obvious than others.


	7. Come Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami ponders her reactions from earlier that day, and gets a surprise visitor the next morning.

Asami found herself staring up at the living room ceiling fan later that night. Once her aunt and uncle had heard about what happened they made a point to move her down here. Turned out the couch had another bed hidden away inside it. It wasn’t as comfy as her bed upstairs, but her uncle wouldn’t even think about letting her use the stairs on her own.

She chuckled in the dark. Of the two, she had not expected her uncle to be the one to freak out when she limped through the front door. He’d sputtered something fierce, and it took the combined efforts of Senna and her aunt to make him calm down. All the while she and Korra had desperately tried not to laugh at his bewildered face.

Her thoughts drifted to the country girl. Korra had refused to leave her side for most of the day. Even after her mother had left she stayed behind to make sure she was set up comfortably down here. The number of pillows propping her head and leg up were far too many, but she appreciated the gesture all the same. And then they spent the rest of the afternoon talking. At one point Korra had mentioned she was in the mood for some pulled pork, which made Asami burst out laughing at the irony. The tan girl laughed right along with her before asking if she’d ever had genuine country barbeque. The look on her face when she admitted she hadn’t was a hilarious cross between mortification and outrage, and she swore then and there that when her stitches came out she’d take her to the best barbeque joint in town.

The thought excited Asami more than it should have, and as she lay in the silence she began to reexamine her reactions from earlier that day. 

_That lightness…what was that about?_ she wondered. Surely it was due to her heightened emotional state after the attack. That’s what made the most sense. Or maybe it was just an immense relief that she was still alive. That would make anyone feel super light, right?

And then a little thought popped into her head. It was the same one that had snuck its way into her mind as Korra had carried her. Asami scrunched her nose up and laughed at herself. 

_Yes, that’s EXACTLY what it is_ , she chided mentally. But as she stared at the moonlight filtering in through the side window she couldn’t help but entertain the thought a little. She unconsciously stared through the blinds, off towards where the orange mailbox stood on the hill, lost in her thoughts before she drifted off to sleep.

\----------

Clattering in the kitchen woke Asami with a start. Sunlight was starting to illuminate the house, but it was very faint, suggesting that it was early morning. She glanced around, eyes still half shut, and spotted a figure in the kitchen.

“What?” she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. The figured turned around and she realized it was her uncle.

“Asami,” he whispered, “I’m sorry honey. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“’s fine,” she replied softly as he walked into the living room and sat gently on the fold out bed.

“How’s the leg feeling?”

Asami looked down at her uncovered leg. She moved it gently and cringed a little when she felt the stitches move. It was so weird. Her uncle must have noticed her look and he reached towards her leg for a moment before stopping and letting it hover in the air.

“Asami?” he asked, worry evident in his voice.

“It’s fine,” she said quickly to prevent him from having another panic attack. “I just need to leave it alone.”

Her uncle nodded. “I need to head out to the field and take care of the cows. If you need anything your aunt is just down the hall in our bedroom. Give her a holler and she’ll come help you with whatever you need.”

Asami nodded and smiled at him. He smiled back, stood up, and grabbed a piece of folded bread from the kitchen – it had something in it, a jelly or jam of some kind – before heading out the door. She heard his truck start up and head around the side of the house before the hum vanished. She let out a small sigh and stared back down at her leg. Her foot was still on top of the mound of pillows, leaving the injury to hang in the open air above the bed. She couldn’t risk moving it around too much, so she was pretty much stuck here for however long it took her to heal. With a sigh she settled back into the pillows and shut her eyes.

Two hours later a loud knock sounded on the door. She stirred, but didn’t open her eyes. It wasn’t like she could get up and answer it anyways. A few moments later she heard another knock, this time a bit louder. Footsteps came from down the hall, and she heard her aunt mutter under her breath about her uncle being a forgetful old fart. Asami couldn’t help but smile.

The door opened, and her aunt let out a surprised gasp.

“Korra! I wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.”

Asami’s eyes flew open and she leaned up on her elbows, making sure to not jostle her leg too much.

“Hey. Sorry to bother you so early, but I was wondering if I could check on Asami real fast?” Korra asked from the doorway. 

“I think she’s still asleep, but you can come in if you’d like,” her aunt said, and Asami heard boots walk in on the wooden floor.

“I’m already awake, actually,” she called, and her aunt peeked around the corner. When she spotted her she gave her a small smile.

“Sorry sweetie, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Your husband already did that a few hours ago,” she chuckled. Her aunt’s face turned into a scowl.

“I told him not to bother you,” she grumbled before she turned to go into the kitchen. Soon after, Korra poked her head around the corner and flashed her a small, apologetic smile.

“Will I get in trouble too if I bother you?” she asked in a whisper. Asami giggled.

“I think my aunt can make an exception,” she replied, motioning for her to come in as she sat up. Korra walked in and stood awkwardly above the bed. “You know you can sit down, right?”

“I don’t want to mess with your leg,” she said, her eyes flicking over to the suspended limb. Asami rolled her eyes.

“It’s not going to fall off if you sit down,” she teased. Korra gave her a sheepish grin as she tenderly sat down and faced her.

“You doing alright?”

“Mmhm,” Asami answered with a nod. “Though I’m surprised my aunt and uncle had any pillows to use last night.”

Korra chuckled. “You’ve got enough to build your own pillow fort.”

“I just might have to. It would give me something to do at least, since I’m basically trapped here for a week.”

The statement came out a little sadder than she had expected, and Korra noticed. She reached a tan hand up behind her neck and looked away, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. Suddenly they shot up and she looked back over at her with a sparkle in her blue eyes.

“I have an idea!” she said excitedly before shooting up off the bed. Asami watched as she fumbled through her back pocket before pulling out a phone. She spotted the blue case and orange basketball logo on it before she sat back down.

“How about we trade numbers? That way we can still talk even with you stuck here.”

Asami felt her eyebrows shoot up for a moment before a smile spread across her face.

“Sure! But, um, could you do me a favor and go get my phone? It’s upstairs in my purse.”

“No problem, be right back!” Korra said before she rushed out of the living room. Asami listened to her boots go up the stairs two at a time and chuckled. That girl was going to trip over herself at some point if she wasn’t careful.

Less than a minute later the cowgirl was back in the living room with the phone in hand.

“Nice case,” Korra said with a cheeky grin as the sparkly red case with a black floral design on it passed between their hands. Asami raised her chin up and straightened her posture.

“I thought we already established my excellent taste?” she asked with an air of mock elegance. An added flip of her hair made Korra put a hand over her mouth to hold back a laugh. The failed attempt earned her a playful shove.

Numbers were exchanged, and as Asami stared at the new contact she couldn’t help but smile. Korra’s name in her phone excited her for some reason. She blamed her thoughts from last night for that, and she shoved them to the back of her mind.

“Sweet,” Korra said, and Asami looked up at her. “Well I hate to do this, but I have to go. Sorry I can’t stay longer.”

Asami shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just happy you came over.”

Korra gave her a sweet smile before she stood up and walked to the living room entrance. She reached a hand around the corner and produced her white hat and a thick navy work jacket. She slipped them both on quickly and then looked back up at her. With that, her white undershirt, her jeans, and her boots, Korra really did look like a cowgirl. _It looks good on her_ , Asami thought.

“I’ll talk to you later,” she said with a wave.

“Bye,” Asami called as she walked out of sight. She listened for the sound of Naga starting up and kept her ears at attention until the roar of the engine disappeared. She leaned back into the couch and sighed. The phone flipped lazily in her hands as she tried to figure out what she was going to do today. Not five minutes later it buzzed and let out a small ping.

She looked down and saw the familiar name. With a quick swipe she opened up the message.

_K: What do you call a pig with no legs?_

Asami furrowed her brows in confusion before texting back.

_A: Um…no idea_

A few seconds later her phone pinged again.

_K: A groundhog!_

She rolled her eyes and let out a quick laugh.

_A: Do you have any idea how corny that was?_  
_K: Oh come on, that was funny!_  
_A: It was corny_  
_K: Did it make you laugh?_

Asami paused, not wanting to admit that the worst joke she’d heard in a long time had actually worked. Before she could respond her phone went off.

_K: It made you laugh, didn’t it? :)_  
_A: You’re a dork_  
_K: Lol_

For the rest of the day Korra sent her terrible jokes. Asami made a silent pact with herself that she would never admit how much she enjoyed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last of the pre-written chapters, so now I'm basically writing the chapter in the week before it's supposed to be posted. Luckily I've managed to conquer the little writer's block I had and am now making good progress with the next chapter.
> 
> Also, I finally made myself a tumblr blog! It's called SouthernEpy and it's where I'll be letting people on tumblr know when this is updated. Because I noticed that unless you have a tumblr account to do so, sometimes people don't realize you exist...
> 
> It can be found here: http://southernepy.tumblr.com/


	8. Tattoos On This Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finally getting her stitches out, Korra decides to take Asami on a tour of her hometown. Things don't go exactly as planned.

"Really?" Asami asked, a smile spreading across her face.

"Yeah! You've been stuck here for two weeks now, so I thought you might like a change of scenery," Korra explained as she reclined in the nearby chair and munched on a piece of leftover bacon. Asami peered around the corner and spotted her aunt washing the last of the dishes from that morning.

"I could use a change. No offense to my aunt and uncle, but if I'm confined to this house much longer I'm going to go stir crazy."

Korra laughed. "Not a fan of sitting around, huh?"

"Not at all."

"Well then you might not like what I have in mind."

Asami raised an eyebrow at her, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"You just got your stitches out yesterday, and my mom said you have to take it easy at first, right?"

"Yes," Asami answered, not entirely sure where she was going with this.

"Why don't we just make it a drive around tour then? We can chill in Naga and I can point out stuff as we go. That way you don't have to do a lot of walking. Most of the things I want to show you we can get to with Naga anyways."

A drive around tour. She liked the sound of that. And she couldn't argue with Korra's logic; the less pressure she put on her leg the better her chances were to make sure the injury didn't open up again. Asami couldn't help the small shudder that ran up her spine at the thought.

"Sounds good to me," she answered. "What time did you have in mind?"

"You and your times," Korra said with a roll of her eyes. "It really must be a city thing."

"It's a thing that civilized people do, yes," Asami quipped.

"Hey, I'm totally civilized!" Korra retorted as she shot her hands out to her sides. A piece of the bacon in her hand broke off and was flung to the floor.

"Clearly," Asami teased as Korra leaned over to pick it up, mumbling something under her breath that she didn't quite catch. When she sat back up she flashed her a quick crooked grin before popping the rest of the bacon into her mouth, including the piece that had been on the floor.

"Ew, Korra!"

"What?" Korra asked with a mouthful of bacon. "Five second rule!"

Asami laughed as Korra purposely chewed with her mouth open and dropped multiple crumbs onto her light blue t-shirt. _Good lord, this girl_ , she thought. But in a strange way she found the country girl's childlike demeanor endearing. She couldn't help but wish that she could be more like Korra in that regard.

"How does our usual time sound? Two o'clock, right on the dot."

"It better be," Asami replied. Korra sat up straight and crossed her heart.

"I promise. Not a minute after."

\----------

"You're late."

Korra stared at her as she walked up the gravel driveway. "I am not."

Asami raised an eyebrow at her and simply held up her phone. A bright 2:01 was displayed on the screen.

"You're a minute late. You broke your promise."

"Oh for Pete's sake," Korra exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "I'm more on time than I have been! Doesn't that count for something?"

"It would, but we city dwellers have high standards," Asami shot back with a small flip of her hair.

"Yeah, and you're high maintenance as hell too," Korra retorted with a smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest. Asami glared at her and began to make her way down the stairs. She saw Korra start to step forward, but she stopped when Asami waved her off. She walked as briskly as she could towards Naga, albeit with a bit of a limp, and before Korra could get there she opened the door and hoisted herself carefully up into the seat.

"Still think I'm high maintenance?" she asked with a triumphant air as Korra reached over for the door to close it.

"Alright, alright, you're not THAT high maintenance," she admitted as she shut the door. Asami smiled to herself as Korra got in and started up the truck. Soon they were cruising down the dirt road, the little house disappearing in a cloud of orange dust in the side view mirror. Asami turned her gaze from the mirror to the landscape flying by, and she was surprised at how different it seemed from a few weeks ago. The trees still looked a little haggard, but the fields were greener looking than she remembered, and the bales of hay resting in them had more dimension and color. Amazing what a bit of sunlight could do.

"So, where are we off to first?" Asami asked as she turned to watch the dirt road stretching out in front of them.

"Thought we could start with downtown," Korra answered.

 _Downtown?_ Asami wondered. Her uncle had mainly taken side and back roads to get to their house, so she hadn't actually seen the center of the nearby town. She was pretty sure her definition of the word was very different from Korra's, but she was curious.

Silence settled into the truck as Korra turned onto a paved road. Asami saw a small building pass by on their right, and was surprised when the sign declared it as a church. It looked nothing like the ancient and ornate ones in the city, more like a regular, white wood paneled home. There wasn't even a parking lot for it. She would have never known if the sign hadn't been there.

Music filled the cab of the truck, and Asami turned to see Korra fiddling with the radio.

"Thought you might like some music," she explained quickly with a small smile. She gestured to it and Asami accepted the invitation to explore the airwaves. She adjusted the knobs until she found a station that was playing familiar songs. Mostly modern pop – the mainstream hits – but it was what she was used to and made her feel a little bit more at home. Her eyes flicked over to Korra for a moment, and she noticed the look on her face.

"What?" she asked, nervous for some reason.

"Nothing," Korra replied, "it's just not my usual type of music."

"Oh. Should I change it?"

"Nah, it's fine. My rules are that the passenger gets to be the DJ, so whatever you choose, goes."

"So if I found a hardcore rap station...?"

"Then I would suffer in silence," Korra said, but Asami didn't miss the grimace she made. It made her chuckle.

"Don't worry, I'm not a fan of it either."

"Oh thank god. I was worried for a minute there."

"What would you have done if I was?" Asami asked.

"Well I wouldn't have said anything, buuuuut I may have judged you just a little bit," the country girl teased. "Though to be fair it probably wouldn't have surprised me. Most of the time when I picture rap I picture the city; would've made sense if you liked it."

"Actually, there are a lot of people at my school who do listen to it. I've just never found it all that appealing," Asami explained with a shrug.

Korra looked like she was about to say something, but right then a big burnt orange truck came whizzing down a side road and cut right in front of them. The country girl cursed loudly and slammed on the brakes, and Asami grabbed the side door with a vice grip. The other truck sped off in front of them and out of sight.

"I swear that jackass is going to kill somebody," Korra muttered before she turned to Asami with a worried look. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied as she slowly peeled her fingers away from the door. She was shaking just a bit from the adrenaline rush.

"Sorry about that," Korra apologized as she turned her eyes back to the road and sped up again. "Some people just don't know how to drive their damn trucks."

"That's not normal around here, is it?"

Korra laughed. "Fortunately no, but you do get idiots like that sometimes."

Asami sighed and settled back into her seat. She noticed more houses starting to pass by, so they must have finally entered the city proper. Some of them were built with red bricks, others with wood paneling similar to the church, and others with a mixture of stone types. They were all different colors and ages, and some were more put together than others. She saw a well-maintained yard filled with children’s toys sitting next to one that looked like it hadn't been mowed in years. Some of the cars sitting in the driveways looked older than the houses themselves. Most of them had wire fences similar to the ones she saw around basketball courts back home, but shorter.

As they passed by a house with a tree growing into the side of it, Korra turned down a street and pointed in front of her.

"Downtown is just up ahead," she said, and Asami turned to look. What she saw was a small intersection, and beyond it a collection of old looking brick buildings. As they cruised through the light the side of the first building came into view, and Asami saw a very detailed mural that looked like it had been done back in the fifties. The store itself was an antique shop, and the next few stores were a few small restaurants, an insurance company, an empty shop with a “Space For Rent” sign, a flower shop, and finally a bank. The tallest building was only two stories, and they were all side-by-side with no alley space to be seen. The sidewalks were worn, and the street had two lanes with faded lines and a few cracks. A banner stretched above the middle of the street advertising an upcoming rodeo.

"It's not much to look at, but there is some interesting stuff here. Like that garage," Korra said as she pointed to the left at metal building just past the main area, "has been here for over fifty years. The owner likes to talk with you while he works, so it ends up taking twice as long to fix your car, but time seems to go by a lot faster. Best mechanic in town.”

For the next hour Korra told her stories about her hometown as they drove around. Places and people she knew, memories from when she was a kid, and even legends about Native American ghosts. There wasn't much on the surface, but the way Korra talked about the small town – nostalgia in each story and chest puffed out proudly – made it come alive. It had a hidden personality that surprised and intrigued Asami.

They turned down one of the side streets and drove a little ways until Korra pulled into a strange looking establishment set back in the trees. It had a central, brightly-colored building that was surrounded by covered parking spaces with what she realized were menus attached to supporting poles.

"And this," Korra said with a smirk on her face as she parked in an open spot, "is the best drive-in you will ever have the privilege of eating at." She finished with a sweeping gesture of her hand that made Asami laugh.

"I've heard about these, but I've never seen one in person," she said as she looked out at the menu, her mind trying to picture how the wiring worked to connect it to the main building.

"Really?" Korra asked, and her surprised tone made Asami turn to meet her equally incredulous expression. "You've never eaten at a drive-in before?"

"Never."

"Wow," she said, wonder in her blue eyes. "I would've thought they had some up north.”

"There isn't much space for something like this in the city," Asami explained, but before she could continue she heard a loud shout come from across the small outdoor seating area in front of them. The two girls looked over and saw a young man waving to them from behind the steering wheel of an older red and white truck. He hopped out, and Asami was about to ask what was going on when she saw a huge grin break out on Korra's face.

"Bolin!" she exclaimed as she hopped out of the truck and ran over to embrace him. From her position in the truck Asami could see he was just a little bit taller than Korra was, had a bulky but still muscular build under his green sleeveless top and tan shorts, and swept back black hair. His eyes suddenly darted over to where she was, and she saw that they were green and held some of the same Asian features that hers did. A huge grin covered his face as he made his way over to the passenger side door and waited for Asami to roll the window down.

"Hey! So you're the city girl I've been hearing so much about! It's so nice to meet you!" he said as he extended his hand. His grip was firm but welcoming, and just as calloused as Korra's.

"Asami, this is Bolin," Korra explained as she came up to join them and leaned against Naga. "He's one of my friends from around here."

"Nice to meet you Bolin," Asami replied, giving him a kind smile. Some of her first-meeting facade was up, but the innocent and excited look in the young man's eyes made her relax a little.

"So are you really from the city? What's it like? Do you get a lot of snow there? Oh! Are the hot dogs really as good as people say they are?"

"Give her a chance to think Bolin," Korra laughed as she punched him in the arm. He gave her a sheepish look.

"Sorry, sorry, I've just got so many questions! I haven’t been to the city in like a million years! Mako remembers it, but I don't!" Bolin whined. Asami couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at his comedic pout.

"Who's Mako?" Asami asked. Bolin turned back to her.

"He's my older brother. You'll probably meet him at some point."

"Why isn't he with you? Get his head stuck in a fence again?" Korra asked with a knowing look. Asami could tell there was a story behind it.

"No, not this time. Had some paperwork to fill out for the rodeo. I tried to make him come, but you know how he gets. Business first, yadda yadda yadda," Bolin said with a wave of his hand.

"He's gonna compete?" Korra asked. Asami saw the slight concern on her face.

"Yeah! About time too if you ask me, I was getting kind of lonely being the only one going."

"You do the rodeo?" Asami asked. Bolin beamed and puffed out his chest a bit.

"You bet I do! I'm the best rodeo clown around these parts!"

"Rodeos have clowns?" she asked, and the look of shock on his face told Asami that he had not been expecting that reply.

"Of course they do!" he exclaimed as he shot his arms out to the sides, nearly whacking Korra in the face in the process. "Who else is going to distract the bulls? It takes a man with real guts and conviction to be out there doing what we do! We're practically the super stars of the whole thing! We keep the crowds happy in the down time, we make sure the riders get to safety, and-"

"Okay Bolin, I think you made your point," Korra interrupted before Bolin could continue. She looked at Asami and chuckled. "It really is a cool job, and he's good at it."

"You should come and watch us!" Bolin said, practically bouncing where he stood. The question was mainly directed at Korra, but his eyes went back and forth between the two girls.

“I dunno Bolin, you sure Mako would want me to be there?” Korra asked as she rubbed the back of her neck. 

_Ok, there is definitely some history between those two_ , Asami thought. Bolin was about to retort, but the screeching of tires made them all turn. A familiar burnt orange truck had raced into the drive-in and was a few spots down from them. Asami spotted a young man sitting behind the wheel, his dark hair cut short and a white tank top revealing brawny arms. As he looked over at them she saw his eyes narrow, and even through his deceptively soft facial features she could see the disgust.

“Oh great, Joe’s here,” Korra muttered.

As if on cue, Joe stepped out of his truck and sauntered over to stand a short distance from the small group.

“So, ya Orients got yerself another member,” he sneered as he crossed his arms, purposely flexing them Asami noticed. “At least she’s a pretty one.”

She felt her eyes go wide in shock. His eyes met hers and he flashed her a wink and an arrogant smile. She already didn’t like him.

“Go fuck yourself Joe,” Korra growled, taking a step towards him. Bolin rushed over and grabbed her shoulder.

“Easy Korra, we don’t want to start a fight.”

“Yer damn right ya don’t. Don’t want another black eye, now do ya?”

“I gave you one too, dumbass. Or did all those hits to your head actually give you brain damage?” Korra retorted with a cocky smirk. Joe’s eyes narrowed into slits.

“Ya just got lucky. If yer boyfriend hadn’t been there I woulda kicked yer ass.”

“Oh yeah?” Korra hissed before shrugging Bolin off and inching even closer to where Joe stood. The taller man peered down at her.

“Yeah.”

The tension between the two was almost palpable, and Asami felt her concern building. She didn’t want to see Korra get into a fight. She eased herself out of the car, hobbled over, and pulled back on her other shoulder.

“Korra, let’s just leave. We can come back some other time,” she said.

“I’d listen to yer lady friend if I were ya,” Joe sneered. Asami glared at him, but continued to pull Korra back.

“Korra, please,” Asami begged. The tone of her voice surprised her, and Korra turned her head to look at her. She conveyed her message as best she could with her eyes, wordlessly pleading with her friend to back off. The anger behind the blue subsided some and the country girl sighed.

“Fine. Let’s get out of here,” she muttered as she turned and walked with Asami back over to the passenger side.

“That’s what Ah thought,” Joe laughed, and Asami saw him walk back over to his car with a triumphant stride. Once she was settled back into Naga she looked out the still rolled down window and spotted Bolin. He nodded and gave her an appreciative, relieved smile. She smiled back as Korra left to get in the driver’s seat.

“It was nice to meet you Bolin!” Asami called as they started to back out.

“Same here! See ya around!” he called back with a wave. Korra turned the corner and he was out of sight.

“Will Bolin be ok?” she asked as she turned to Korra. She noticed how white the cowgirl’s knuckles were on the steering wheel.

“Joe may talk big, but he can’t hit worth a damn. He’ll be fine,” she practically growled, keeping her eyes on the road. Asami could tell she was fuming, so she dropped the subject and settled as best she could into the tense atmosphere. The thought of Joe made her blood boil. She hoped she didn’t have to see him again anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me so much trouble. Once I got it going it was fine, but jeebus the beginning... *plants face on desk*
> 
> Anyway, say hello to our antagonist! Is he the stereotypical southern asshole? Yes. Will he be appearing again? Yes. Will he get what's coming to him? You'll have to wait and see.


	9. How Country Feels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a rough start Korra continues the tour. Asami, however, struggles to control those pesky thoughts.

So many questions were running through Asami’s head. Who was Joe exactly? What was his problem? Had he really given Korra a black eye before? Was she ok now? What was that comment about Mako not wanting her to be at the rodeo about? She held her tongue, however, because she could tell Korra was not in the mood to talk about that right now. She wasn’t gripping the steering wheel as tightly as before, but there was still an air of annoyance as she pulled into a gas station and parked. Instead Asami busied herself with flattening out her white blouse.

“Sorry about that,” Korra finally said.

Asami gave her a sympathetic smile. “You don’t need to apologize. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know,” Korra replied, letting out a sigh, “but I was hoping this tour wouldn’t involve running into him. At least not again.”

“That was him earlier, right? The guy in the orange truck that nearly ran into us?”

Korra snorted. “Yeah, that was him.”

“I can see why you don’t like him,” Asami muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I wanted to punch him so badly for talking to you like that,” Korra said, and Asami turned to her. She studied her face for a minute, and although the country girl wasn’t looking at her she could tell the glare being projected at the front window was filled with genuine anger. The lightness formed in her chest again and she quickly turned away, brows furrowed as she stifled it.

“A part of me wishes you had,” she admitted quietly.

“Trust me, I would have if you and Bolin hadn’t been holding me back. Sorry you had to get involved like that.”

“You’ve been doing a lot of apologizing,” Asami noted in an amused tone, glad to have something else to focus on. Korra gave her a sheepish smile.

“I know, I know, but it’s just because I really am sorry. This isn’t how I wanted today to go.”

“How did you want it to go?”

“Well, after an amazing tour of my hometown,” Korra began with a smirk, “I was going to treat you to something at the drive-in. Then I was thinking I would show you my school, and after that we could do whatever you wanted. Of course, I understand if you want to head back to your house now.”

The disappointment in her voice made Asami’s heart crack. She was trying so hard to impress her.

“I’d be okay with continuing the tour,” she answered, and Korra whipped her head over in her direction. Her blue eyes were practically sparkling with hope.

“Really?”

Asami nodded, and she swore that if Korra had smiled any wider she would have split her face right in two.

“Alright! Hometown tour, round two!” she hollered as she revved Naga back to life. Asami smiled as they pulled back onto the main road and sped to the other side of town. A large brick building came into view after a few minutes, along with some smaller white buildings neatly arranged nearby. Next to them was a baseball field with a wire fence around it and an old wooden announcers box right in the middle of the fence. A charging white horse was painted on it, and as they pulled into the empty front parking lot she saw the same horse on a sign outside what she assumed was the front entrance.

The brick arch loomed above her as she and Korra walked past it and down the sidewalk. Asami noticed how moss was growing in some areas of the brick, and weeds poked out from cracks in the sidewalk. The white buildings – temporary classrooms, as Korra explained – looked much newer than the main building, but the cinderblocks they rested on betrayed some age with the stains they held. All around her she could hear the clicking and buzzing of bugs in the afternoon heat.

“And that’s where I had my biology class,” Korra explained as she pointed to the last white building on the row. “The professor had us dissect baby pigs, and the entire row of buildings smelled horrible for a week. Never did get the smell completely off my backpack.”

“Baby pigs? R-Really?” Asami gagged.

“Yeah, it was actually kind of cool. Better than the rats the freshmen had to use.”

Asami felt like she was going to hurl. Korra snickered at her apparently green face but thankfully led her away from the buildings and to the baseball field. The tan girl sprinted forward suddenly and launched herself over the small fence next to the dugout.

“Korra!” Asami called as she hobbled after her. Korra grinned as she fished into her pockets and produced a small key. She unlocked the gate on the other side of the dugout in one smooth motion and held it open. When Asami didn’t move she gave her a puzzled look.

“You coming in or what?”

“Korra, the gate was locked. I don’t think they want us in there.”

The country girl scoffed. “We’re not going to get in trouble. I’ve done this a million times and never been caught. Besides, I have the key, so if anyone asks we can say I was doing summer maintenance or something.”

Asami shot her a look, but then stepped inside. The dirt crunched beneath her shoes as she walked over to home plate. She looked around the small field, taking it all in.

“So this is what it’s like to be on the field,” she wondered aloud.

“Wait,” Korra called from the pitcher’s mound. “You’ve never been on a baseball field before?”

“Again, not much room for one in the city, other than the professional field.”

“Don’t you guys have parks though?”

“Not for baseball fields,” Asami explained. “Most of the small games I’ve seen are played in concrete basketball courts.”

“Wow. That kind of sucks.”

Asami shrugged. She stopped in front of home plate and leaned over gingerly to clean off the orange dirt. The plate looked like it had seen quite a few games in its time.

“And now up to bat, we have the newest player for the Mustangs!” Korra yelled, causing Asami to look up. She saw her with her hands cupped around her mouth, projecting her voice to the nonexistent crowd. “Say hello to Asamiiiiii Satooooo!”

She made faint crowd cheering noises. Asami chuckled.

“What are you doing?”

“Giving you the experience,” Korra explained with a grin. She took a stance on the pitcher’s mound and pretended to have a glove and a ball in her hands. When Asami didn’t move she rolled her eyes and motioned for her to step up to the plate. Asami raised an eyebrow.

“Really?”

“Oh come on! It’s not like I’m actually going to hit you with a ball.”

The taller girl sighed, but moved up to the plate as requested.

“Ok, now pretend you’re holding a bat!”

“Why? You said so yourself you don’t have a ball to throw,” Asami countered cheekily. She saw Korra slap a hand to her face.

“For Pete’s sake Asami, just do it.”

She obeyed, and Korra took up her serious stance again, eyes trained right on her. She did an overly exaggerated wind up before throwing the imaginary ball with as much force as she could. Asami waited, hands still raised, before giving a half-hearted swing into thin air.

“HOLY TOLITO! WHAT A MONSTER HIT! IT’S GOING, GOING, GOING…IT’S GONE!” Korra screamed at the top of her lungs, hands raised in the air in celebration before she fell onto her knees and then her back in the dirt. Asami chuckled and hobbled over to the fallen country girl.

“You’re a goofball,” she said as she stood near her head. Korra looked up at her and flashed her crooked grin.

“And you need to learn how to have fun.”

“I do know how to have fun, thank you very much,” she retorted as Korra got up. The back of her shirt was covered in a fine layer of orange dirt. She shook it out in Asami’s direction, causing the city girl to jump back. Korra’s snicker earned her a slap on the arm.

“Ow,” she whined.

“You deserved that,” Asami accused with a smirk, pointing a finger at her.

“Whatever,” Korra replied with a roll of her eyes. “Come on, let’s get back to Naga.”

They started to make their way out of the field, but a twinge in her leg made Asami stop. She reached down and grasped the back of her calf.

“Asami?” Korra asked, and Asami felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up and saw concerned blue eyes staring down at her.

“It’s fine, I think my muscles are just a little out of practice,” she chuckled as the strain subsided.

“Damn it, I shouldn’t have made you walk around out here,” Korra muttered, more to herself than to Asami.

“I’m okay, really,” she reassured her, standing up straight again and stretching out her leg as proof. The country girl didn’t look convinced.

“Still, I don’t want you walking on it anymore,” she said, and Asami watched as she went to stand in front of her. She swung her arms out behind her and looked back over her shoulder. “Hop on. I’ll carry you over to Naga.”

And there was the lightness again, along with what she was pretty sure was a small blush, based on the faint heat in her face. Or maybe that was just because of the heat. Either way, Korra didn’t seem to notice.

“Y-you don’t have to, really,” Asami tried.

“Look, you can either hop on my back, or I’m carrying you over my shoulder.”

Asami narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Korra stared straight back at her. “Try me.”

Her face was dead set, and Asami knew there was no way she could win this fight. She relented and stepped forward before gingerly hopping up. Korra squatted and caught her under her thighs before positioning her just above her waist. The tan girl clasped her hands in front of her so that Asami’s legs were resting on her forearms. Korra wobbled just a bit while she was getting settled, and Asami’s arms wrapped tightly around her in an effort to keep from falling backwards.

“Asami…can’t…breathe…”

“Oh, sorry!” she answered quickly as she repositioned her grip from around the shorter girl’s neck. Her arms rested in the space above her chest, hands clasped around her own forearms. She realized that her head was positioned right next to Korra’s, almost to the point where their cheeks were touching. The heat in her face increased, and this time she couldn’t blame the weather for it.

 _What the hell is wrong with me?_ she chided mentally as Korra began her walk over to Naga. Locking the gate back proved to be difficult, but she managed and was soon backing Asami up into her seat.

“There we go, piece of cake!” Korra declared as she unraveled her arms from Asami’s legs and turned around with a triumphant smile. It dropped a bit when she looked at her. “You alright?”

“Yeah. Why?” Asami asked as she settled into the passenger seat.

“Your face looks kinda red. You didn’t get too hot out there, did you?”

_Oh crap._

“A-A little. I’ll be fine once the A/C gets going though,” she quickly explained. Korra nodded and closed the door, and as she made her way around Asami took a moment to try and calm herself down.

_Seriously Asami, get a grip. You’re overreacting. It’s just Korra for heaven’s sake._

Korra had them back out on the road in no time. Thankfully the heat in Asami’s cheeks subsided, but for some reason she was still on edge. Her hands kept fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

“Hey, you sure you’re okay?” Korra asked as they turned into downtown again.

“I’m fine Korra,” Asami replied with a little more force than she meant to. The truck was silent again, but this time it was Asami causing the tense air between them. Her mind wouldn’t stop running around in circles. That damn little voice was back too, teasing her with its stupid ideas. And with Korra sitting right next to her! If she wasn’t there Asami would have groaned in annoyance.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even realize that Korra had turned the radio back on. When she heard an unfamiliar country tune, however, she looked up and saw that the station had been changed. She looked over and spotted a mischievous grin on Korra’s face.

Before she could ask what she was up to, the country girl turned them onto a paved, two-lane road and hit the gas. Naga lurched forward with a loud roar, and Asami felt herself pressed back into her seat.

“Korra?!”

She just laughed and flicked the radio up to full volume as she rolled down the windows of the truck. The music playing was different than the other country songs Asami had heard before. It had more of a rock feel to it. Even through the roar of the wind she could hear the vibrant sound of the guitar, the thud of the drums, and the passion in the singer’s voice. That, plus the wind whipping through her hair, the rumbling of the engine, the trees and fields flying past, and her own adrenaline made her feel…alive. She felt something click inside of her, and a smile spread across her face. Laughter poured out of her as the truck wound around a curve in the road, her previous feelings of stress and nerves gone. She let herself get lost in the moment.

Too soon the truck slowed down at a stop sign, and Asami had to take a second to catch her breath.

"That…that was amazing!”

Korra laughed beside her. “Thought you might enjoy that.”

“How?”

“Because you’re into cars,” she answered, and Asami remembered their conversations from a few weeks back. She’d completely forgotten about telling her that, and was impressed that Korra hadn’t.

“I am, but that was something else. I’ve never gone that fast in a car before!”

“Uh oh, did I just turn you into a speed junkie?”

“Maybe,” Asami chuckled. She smiled, but it faded as she looked down at her hands. “Korra…I’m sorry about snapping at you earlier. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh.”

She saw Korra shrug. “Don’t worry about it. And I know I was being pushy earlier, but I just didn’t want you to hurt yourself. Especially when it was me who put you in that position in the first place.”

 _She thinks this was about my leg_ , Asami realized. Korra’s first thought was not to blame her, but to blame herself; it touched Asami, even if it wasn’t quite correct. Although, when she thought about it she wasn’t too far from the truth, but there was no way she would admit that.

“No, Korra, it wasn’t you.” 

Her eyes went wide when she realized she’d spoken, and immediately wished she hadn’t when Korra shot her a confused look.

_Think Asami, think!_

“The heat just got to me,” she explained, recovering quickly. She saw Korra’s eyes fill with understanding and she reached over and set the A/C to the lowest setting possible. The cool air caused goose bumps to cover Asami’s arms.

“Okay, that doesn’t mean you need to turn me into an ice cube,” she laughed as she rubbed her arms. Korra grinned and turned the air back down to an acceptable level. Another car finally pulled up behind them and honked loudly. Asami breathed a silent sigh of relief for the distraction as Korra turned left and cruised them down the road.

“So, what do you want to do now?” Korra asked, and Asami turned to her with a smirk.

“Surprise me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a complete 180 from the last chapter, in that I didn't have as much trouble writing this one. It just seemed very natural for some reason. Guess I prefer writing goofy moments with these two than tense ones.
> 
> So, I've planned out the rest of the story. That means I know (tentatively, and this is definitely open to change) how many chapters I'm going to do, and I have what I'm calling the "Southern Summer Playlist" a.k.a. the chapter titles complete. It deviated a bit from what I had in mind before, but the change is welcome and I feel it will make this story infinitely more interesting. At least to me. Might stress you guys out though. *snickers evilly*
> 
> Also, holy crap you guys. This almost has 300 kudos and 5000 views. It makes me so happy to know that people are reading this and enjoying it, and it gives me the encouragement I need to keep going. You guys rock!
> 
> P.S. For the best reading experience, I recommend starting the title song at the paragraph where Korra turns the radio back on.


	10. Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami spends some time with the boys at the pool and discovers some things about Korra.

“Thanks again for the ride Bolin,” Asami said as she tried to find a place for her feet amongst the wrappers and empty cups on the floor. The younger man noticed and let out an embarrassed chuckle.

“No problem. And sorry about that, Mako and I aren’t always the best at keeping Pabu here clean.”

“You named your truck Pabu?”

“Yep!” Bolin answered proudly. “He’s not as fancy as Naga is, but he gets the job done. Yes you do,” he finished in a babying voice and with a loving pat on the dashboard. Asami stifled a laugh. What was it with these people and their trucks? Though she probably wasn’t one to talk, since she had fawned over more than one of her father’s cars in her life.

“Speaking of, I’m surprised you didn’t ride with Korra,” Bolin noted. “Not that I’m not happy to give you a ride.”

“Actually I was going to, but something came up on her end. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use the word ‘sorry’ so much in one conversation before,” she finished with a smile.

The plan had originally been that she and Korra would ride together to meet Bolin and his mysterious brother Mako at the local pool today. Asami felt bad, however, because she hadn’t thought to pack a bathing suit. She hadn’t exactly expected to be swimming out in the middle of the country at any point. She almost decided not to come, but Korra had assured her that she could still hang out. She’d even offered to let her borrow one of her bathing suits.

Asami had shot THAT offer down quickly. Not that she didn’t appreciate it, but the idea of being in something Korra herself had worn brought some…unwanted thoughts to her mind.

Asami sighed. The little voice in her head had become increasingly bold over the last few days. It seemed like it took every chance it could get to sneak in something suggestive regarding Korra. Oh, she was lifting something heavy? Let’s take a moment to appreciate those glorious arm muscles. Now she’s giving you that crooked smile? Let’s increase your heart rate tenfold. Every time it happened Asami felt a pang of guilt and self-directed disgust wash over her.

_Korra is a friend, and a recent one too. I shouldn’t be thinking things like this about her._

The most frustrating part about it was how quickly the thoughts had come. They seemed to increase at an exponential rate since the pig incident about three weeks ago. Luckily Korra didn’t show any signs that she suspected. Asami dreaded the possible confrontation it could cause and the inevitable falling out of their friendship. 

She liked having Korra as a friend. She didn’t want to lose her.

“Yo, earth to Asami.”

A hand waving in front of her face snapped Asami out of her thoughts with a start.

“S-Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said we’re here,” Bolin explained. He pointed in front of them, and Asami saw a chain link fence just a few feet away. It surrounded an area about a third the size of the baseball field at the high school. A small pool and a diving board took up the right side and the rest was predominantly filled with plastic deck chairs and tables, a few with umbrellas that had seen far too much sun. A cinderblock building stood at the back of the concrete deck area, and a sign proclaimed it to be the bathrooms.

The right door swung open and a young man stepped out into the bright sunlight. Asami felt her eyebrows shoot up. He was tall and had a muscled build, with arms that could easily rival Korra’s. His black hair was styled forwards on his head, nearly to a point, and as he continued to walk forwards she noticed the slant to his eyes. Asian, just like Bolin, but the blatant farmer’s tan displayed on his shirtless chest told her that he was definitely from around here.

“Oh awesome, Mako finally changed,” Bolin said, the excitement evident in his voice. Asami turned to him.

“That’s your brother?”

“Yep! My constantly brooding, but secretly-a-marshmallow-on-the-inside big bro!” he explained in a teasing voice and with his hands clasped under his chin. He gave her a silly grin before turning to the door. “Come on, let me introduce you to him.”

Bolin called out to his brother as they stepped out of the truck, and Mako finally looked up in their direction. The moment his eyes met Asami’s she could see them go wide. If she didn’t know any better she would say that he was drooling by the time they got inside the fence.

“Hey bro, you get to test the water yet?” Bolin asked. Mako blinked a few times before looking over at him.

“O-Oh. No, not yet,” he answered, his eyes darting back over to look at her. His obviously awestruck behavior was amusing.

“Come on man, I dropped you off like twenty minutes ago! What were you doing this whole time?”

“Bolin, I had to finish the paperwork for the rodeo. You know it has to be done by tomorrow,” he answered with a stern tone. He gestured over to one of the plastic tables, and sure enough a small group of papers and a pen sat on its surface. She heard Bolin sigh.

“You and your paperwork,” he mumbled before walking to the table. Asami followed him and noticed Mako step up to walk next to her.

“So, um, you must be Asami.”

She looked over at him and offered a coy smile. “And you must be the ever brooding but secretly-a-marshmallow-on-the-inside Mako that Bolin was telling me about.”

She saw his eyebrow twitch before Mako whipped his head over in his brother’s direction. The younger man spotted it and his face paled.

“Uh…”

“Bolin, I am going to kill you.”

They stood staring at each other for a moment before Bolin took off towards the pool. He threw off his shirt while he was running, and as he jumped she could hear him yell a loud “SORRY, NOT SORRY!” before cannonballing in. The whole exchange was quite comical, and the way Mako held the bridge of his nose and sighed finally made her giggle.

“He meant it in the best way possible, I promise,” she said, resting a hand on his arm. She felt him tense up, and a blush covered his dumbstruck face.

“Y-Yeah, probably…”

The pair stood in an awkward silence for a few moments. Asami reached up to rub her arm while he scratched the back of his neck. As she looked away her eyes landed on the papers.

“So, you do the rodeo?” she began, hoping to get some kind of small talk going to fill the empty space. Mako looked back over to her before glancing down at the table.

“Uh, yeah. It’s been a while, but I’m getting back into it.”

“What exactly do you do? Are you a rodeo clown like Bolin?”

Mako smiled. “No I’m not. It’s not really my thing. They need crazy goofballs like him for that kind of job.”

“I HEARD THAT,” Bolin yelled from the pool. Mako just shot him a look that made the younger brother sink down to his nose in the water.

“So what do you do?” Asami asked.

“I’m a bronco rider.”

One of Asami’s eyebrows raised. She had no idea what exactly that entailed. Mako must have noticed her confusion because he quickly continued with a far too in-depth explanation. From what she could gather it involved riding on the back of a horse for as long as you could without falling. The goal was to last for at least eight seconds and then somehow get off of the rampaging animal without getting killed.

“That sounds…dangerous,” she replied once he had finished.

“It is, but I love doing it. It’s a huge adrenaline rush, and the fire those horses have in them is amazing. You can feel it while you’re riding them.”

“Ew, bro, phrasing,” Bolin said, and Asami turned to find the soaked young man standing just behind them.

“Shut up you pervert,” Mako hissed.

“Hey, you’re the one who said it that way, not me,” Bolin replied with a shrug. Mako once again held the bridge of his nose, and Asami began to wonder if that was a common gesture for him.

“Anyways,” Asami continued, “there’s actually something I wanted to ask you Bolin.”

“Why yes, my brother is single,” Bolin replied. Asami felt blood rise to her cheeks, and Mako turned his equally red face to glare at his brother, who just stood there looking at him with a shit-eating grin.

“Uh, no, that’s not what I was going to ask,” she continued. “I actually wanted to make sure you were okay after we left the drive-in.”

Concern filled Mako’s eyes. “What happened at the drive-in?”

“Oh, nothing, just a little run in with Joe,” Bolin answered, trying poorly to play it off like it was no big deal. The way Mako’s eyebrows shot up told Asami that it was far from that.

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Relax bro, you know he wouldn’t try anything now.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Don’t you think you’re blowing this a little out of proportion?”

“No! You know as well as I do what he’s capable of!”

“Whoa, wait,” Asami interrupted, stepping up between the arguing brothers with her hands raised. “What do you mean ‘what he’s capable of’?”

The brothers both turned to look at her. Bolin looked like he wanted to melt into the ground, while Mako’s eyes were distant and dark.

“It’s…it’s complicated,” Mako finally answered. Asami crossed her arms over her chest.

“Do I look like I have anywhere to be?”

She could practically see the thoughts whirring through Mako’s head as he deliberated what to do. With a sigh he walked over to the table with his papers and took a seat. He gestured to an empty plastic chair nearby and waited for Asami to sit down before speaking.

“Joe’s had issues with us for a long time,” he began, gesturing to Bolin – he had taken the other empty seat next to his brother – and himself.

“Any idea why?” Asami asked. Mako shook his head.

“Not a clue.”

“I think part of it’s because we’re friends with Korra,” Bolin chimed in, and the mention of the cowgirl made Asami sit up a little straighter. She also didn’t fail to catch the flicker in Mako’s eyes at the mention of her name, but he concealed whatever his internal thoughts were well.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Bolin continued. “Ever since she and her family moved down here they’ve butted heads. I remember one really nasty scrap they had in fifth grade on the playground. It would have gotten bad if Mako and I hadn’t stepped in to help. That was the day we actually became her friends I think. Right Mako?”

The older brother nodded.

“Anyways, ever since then he’s had it out for us too. And he’s only gotten worse as we’ve gotten older.”

“But why would he hate Korra? What has she ever done to him?” she demanded. A hint of anger leaked into her tone, and she balled her hand into a fist on her thigh.

“I think Joe just hates the idea of her more than anything,” Bolin answered, and it took all Asami had to keep her mouth from falling open.

“Joe is…well he’s not from the most open-minded family,” Mako explained quickly as he crossed his arms over his chest. “In their opinion the ideal girl isn’t one that asserts herself like Korra does. It’s her personality that sets him off.”

“That’s absurd! Korra’s personality is one of the best things about her!” Asami replied harshly. She noticed Mako look straight at her, his eyes closely examining her face.

_Crap. Come on Sato, don’t do anything stupid. Stay calm._

“Right?” Bolin exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. His response distracted Mako, and Asami was thankful for the moment it offered her to regain her composure. “Korra’s one of the coolest people I know! No offense bro.”

Mako smirked. “None taken. And I agree, she’s a cool girl, and I like having her as a friend.”

Bolin snorted. Asami looked at him and saw a knowing look on his face as he glanced over at his older brother. Mako’s face turned pink in response. For a moment Asami was confused, but then she remembered Korra’s previous reactions to Mako and it clicked.

“Oh my god,” she breathed, “you used to date Korra.”

Mako’s head whipped over in her direction in a flash. His eyes were wide and his face turned bright red. Bolin’s face was red too, but only because he was laughing so hard.

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner!” he shouted, throwing his hands up into the air.

“I…uh…w-we…” Mako sputtered.

Asami didn’t say anything else for a moment. A multitude of thoughts and feelings had erupted within her at her sudden epiphany. On the one hand it made perfect sense. Mako was good looking, handsome even, and she perfectly understood why Korra would date someone like him. On the other hand, she felt a twinge of jealousy in her chest at the thought of Korra with Mako.

_Stop. Just stop. This is weird. You’re weird. What the hell is wrong with you? So what if she’s dated Mako? Why should you care?_

She knew perfectly well why she would care. The little voice in her mind was practically screaming the answer at her.

“Were you guys actually planning on getting in the water or what?”

The voice made all three of them turn to the entrance to the pool area, and Asami practically gawked at what she saw. Korra stood a few feet away from them, her hand on her hip. Her hair hung around her face as it usually did and she had a teasing twinkle in her blue eyes. But what made Asami’s face and body turn boiling hot was what she was wearing. Korra’s regular jeans had been replaced with dark gray board shorts that ended about a third of the way down her thighs. She’d been wearing a white tank top previously, based on the garment in her hand, but now only a forest green halter bikini top remained. Her arms, her shoulders, her stomach, her legs; everything else was bare.

Asami had imagined she had a good body under her work clothes, but…

_Holy crap._

“Hey Korra!” Bolin called, and Asami heard his plastic chair creak as he stood up. “Nice of you to finally join us.”

Korra snorted. “Please, as if I’d miss a chance to hang out with my favorite bro.”

“Ha! I knew I was your favorite,” Bolin exclaimed, and Asami watched him wrap Korra in a huge bear hug. As they parted Korra’s eyes shifted to where Mako was sitting. Asami saw the wary look behind them.

“Hey,” she offered.

“Hey,” Mako answered. The following awkwardness was almost palpable. Bolin exchanged a glance between everyone before he cleared his throat loudly.

“So, uh, I got Asami here safe and sound!” he said with a nervous laugh. Korra’s eyes finally met hers, and Asami felt her breath catch in her throat at the happiness that she saw in the ice blue gaze.

“Yeah you did! It wasn’t too horrible of a ride, was it Asami?”

Asami finally snapped herself out of her trance, and she gave the tan girl a sly smile. “Well I did nearly drown in plastic cups and straw wrappers, but other than that it was just fine.”

Korra laughed, and Bolin pouted at her. She just shrugged in response and winked.

“Come on, let’s get in the pool. I’ve been dying in this heat all afternoon,” Korra said. Her eyes shot over to Mako again, and Asami could feel the oncoming awkward atmosphere. A thought suddenly came to her mind, and she grinned internally at how much Mako was going to hate her for it.

“Hey Korra?” she called, and the cowgirl turned to look at her.

“Yeah Asami?”

“So how exactly did Mako get his head stuck in that fence?”

Korra and Bolin looked at each other before bursting into loud laughter. Mako’s chair squeaked, and Asami looked over to see him sinking into it, his hand covering his red face.

“I hate you guys,” she heard him mumble, and Asami laughed.

“Oh come on bro, even you have to admit it’s funny,” Bolin said as he wiped a tear from his eye. He and Korra – who had dropped her shirt and keys by the edge of the pool – were making their way down the steps into the pool. Mako continued to glare at them for a moment, but then she saw a glint form in his eye. He stood up and walked forward a few paces before switching to a full sprint.

“OH SHIT!” Bolin managed to yell before his brother cannonballed right on top of him. The resulting splash nailed Korra right in the face, soaked her shirt and keys, and a few of the droplets even managed to land on Asami’s leg.

“Mako! You got my stuff all wet!” Korra yelled at him. He was too busy holding Bolin in a headlock however to notice, and Asami chuckled as Korra sighed in defeat.

“Here,” Asami called as she stood up and walked to the edge of the pool, “let me move your stuff so it can dry.”

“Thanks,” Korra answered with an appreciative grin. Once the items were placed safely on an empty table nearby Asami rejoined the group. She sat down in a spot that hadn’t been soaked and let her legs dangle in the water. The coolness felt good against her bare skin and contrasted nicely with the surrounding heat.

“So, what were you guys talking about before I got here?” Korra asked as she swam up to her. Asami was silent. She wasn’t sure if her history with Joe was a subject that she particularly wanted to talk about.

“We were talking about how much of a dick Joe is,” Bolin answered, having somehow escaped from his brother’s headlock. Asami tensed, waiting for the anger, but instead Korra just snorted out a laugh.

“As if we don’t do that every time we hang out already,” she said. She reclined against the edge of the pool and placed her arms up on the ledge. Asami couldn’t help noticing how the water droplets shone on her bare shoulders.

“I’m so glad he doesn’t go to our school anymore,” Bolin added as he swam up to join them. 

“I think everyone is glad about that,” Mako agreed as he followed shortly after and completed the little circle they had formed.

“So he wasn’t just mean to you guys,” Asami said, more a statement than a question.

“Honestly I wish it had just been us,” Korra sighed, and Asami turned back to her with her eyebrows raised. Korra must have noticed her look, so she continued. “Joe was your classic bully: full of himself and convinced that he ruled the school. He was always picking on the younger kids. It got...violent sometimes.”

“Yeah, I still have a mild fear of trash cans because of him,” Bolin muttered.

“I can’t believe he did that to you. If the principal hadn’t stopped us I would have knocked his front teeth in,” Mako growled.

“You stood up to him?” Asami asked.

“Of course we did,” Korra answered, a fire behind her eyes. “We weren’t about to let him abuse Bolin, or any other kids for that matter. Mako and I stopped him whenever we could, but we couldn’t be everywhere at once. I wish I could have done more,” she finished with a mumble.

“And that’s exactly why everyone at school likes you Korra,” Bolin said. Pink filled Korra’s cheeks and she smiled sheepishly.

“Shut up,” she retorted, splashing some water in his direction.

“Don’t you do that! You always do this when people thank you.”

“They shouldn’t have to in the first place. Honestly the world would be better off if people like Joe weren’t always bullying people. I’m just trying to help.”

If Asami hadn’t thought Korra was an amazing person before, there was no doubt in her mind now. The way she was constantly apologizing and her constant attention to Asami’s feelings and thoughts already hinted at how conscious of others Korra could be, but now she knew it was universal. Korra was such a selfless person, and yet she somehow managed to act like it wasn’t a big deal.

But it was. It added another color to her spectrum of personality, one that Asami was finally recognizing the true diversity and beauty of.

For the rest of the afternoon the four friends – Asami was pretty sure she was included in the gang now – talked and laughed and swam. Korra eventually dragged her into the pool, clothes and all, and Asami got payback by sending a particularly large wave of water into her face. Korra just grinned at her, wet hair falling into her face and that crooked grin spread across it, and that was when Asami realized something.

She liked Korra. And not just as a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pokes head around corner nervously* H-Hey guys...how's it going? I, um, took a little longer on this one...heh...
> 
> Moving plus getting ready/adjusted to grad school plus writer's block made writing this chapter hard. I just hit a wall and had to stop for a while because I lost the mojo, ya know?
> 
> But it's back!
> 
> ...
> 
> Please don't kill me.
> 
> (I'm not making any promises on when the next chapter will be out. It will depend on how busy I get with grad school.)


	11. As She's Walking Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Asami's aunt is a bit more preceptive than she thought, and Korra's got a question.

“Ah, shit!” Asami cursed as she quickly pulled her hand out from inside the tractor. A large part of her right hand was covered in black grease, but the inside of her palm was clean, save for a new cut underneath her pointer and middle fingers.

"Asami? You alright honey?” her uncle called from the front of the tractor. She saw his head poke around the corner, and the worried crease lines were obvious on his forehead.

“I’m fine, just a little cut,” she said quickly, and her uncle’s worry lines doubled. He walked around to her side quickly, a dirty rag in hand.

“Let me see,” he said. She hesitated for a moment, knowing that regardless of how bad the cut really was he was going to overreact. But she also knew he would worry even more if she didn’t, so she lifted her hand up to him to see.

“You call that a little cut?” he gasped, taking her hand and rotating it to get a better look.

“Well I have had worse,” she said, gesturing to the red line on the back of her exposed calf with a small smirk. He apparently didn’t think it was funny.

“You should have your aunt clean this up. I don’t want it getting infected. Please,” he added when Asami started to protest. She sighed, but nodded before heading inside.

She found her aunt in the living room reading through a Southern Living magazine. She looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps and smiled.

“Done already? I figured you’d be out there for another hour.”

“I would have been, but then this happened,” Asami replied as she raised her palm up to show off the wound. She set the magazine down on the coffee table.

“I’m guessing your uncle made you come in then?” she asked as she got up and walked over to examine the cut.

“Well you know how he is with injuries.”

“Yes I do,” her aunt sighed, but there was still small, loving smile on her lips. “This doesn’t look too bad, a little peroxide and a bandage and you should be good to go.”

Her hand was released and Asami followed her aunt into the kitchen. She handed her a damp washcloth to clean the tractor grease off, instead of having to wipe it off on her jean shorts or her red v-neck. When her aunt turned to look through a cupboard for what she needed, Asami took a seat at the kitchen table. A red stain on the tablecloth caught her attention and made her smile.

“This stain is never going to come out, is it?” she asked. Her aunt turned, supplies in hand, and glanced down to where Asami was pointing.

“I would put a white tablecloth out the night Korra comes over for dinner,” she sighed. She took the seat next to Asami and began busying herself with cotton balls and the brown bottle of peroxide.

“To be fair it wasn’t exactly planned ahead of time,” Asami admitted. “I didn’t think she’d make that much of a mess though. She’s such a dork.”

Her last statement came out as a half-sigh as the cowgirl filled her thoughts. Korra really had been a mess at dinner, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. Korra had shown up at their front door unexpectedly last night wanting to talk to Asami, but they had been in the middle of dinner. Of course her aunt insisted she stay, and Asami knew Korra well enough to know she would never pass up the chance for a good meal. She seemed nervous the entire time, however, even flinging a meatball off her plate by accident. It was the cause of the stain Asami now found herself unconsciously staring at.

“Something on your mind?” her aunt asked. Asami lazily glanced up at her, letting out a small hum. “Is it Korra?”

“Yeah,” Asami admitted, “she just seemed off last night. I can’t figure out why either. She seemed fine when we were all at the pool the other day.”

A little heat rose in her cheeks at the memory of Korra in her bathing suit. She hoped her aunt didn’t notice.

“Something change since then?” her aunt continued, and Asami looked back up at her. She seemed very focused on her – her eyes were examining her face closely – and it made Asami nervous.

“N-No…I mean, not that I’ve noticed,” she answered quickly. Her aunt hummed and wordlessly took hold of her injured hand. She pressed a peroxide soaked cotton ball to it, and the sharp pain made Asami hiss.

“Sorry hun,” she apologized, wiping off the little bubbles with a dry cotton ball. “Should have given you some warning.”

“You’d think I’d be used to it by now,” Asami chuckled, her eyes flickering down to her leg. Her aunt smiled. Nice to know one of them could look back on that with a sense of humor.

“That reminds me,” her aunt said, a thoughtful look on her face, “I need to thank Korra for being so helpful with your recovery. It was sweet of her to come and check up on you.”

“Yeah, it was,” Asami replied, a smile creeping to her lips. Her aunt placed the bandage on her hand, but before Asami could pull away she took hold of it softly.

“Asami, is something going on between you and Korra?”

Asami whipped her head up to meet her aunt’s curious gaze. She could feel her eyes practically double in size and heat quickly saturated her cheeks.

“W-What? No…I…we just…”

She finally shut her mouth, knowing that if she kept going she was going to say something she’d regret. Her aunt’s gaze was direct, however, and she saw no hint of animosity. It was soft and open, and Asami felt her resolve weakening the longer she took.

_Don’t. She’ll think you’re a freak._

“Asami,” her aunt said gently as she gave her hand a squeeze, “you know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

Asami swallowed hard, but nodded. The sudden anxiety that spread throughout here made her whole body feel like it was vibrating. This was not something she had been expecting to talk about tonight, or any night for that matter, and she wished she’d had more time to collect her thoughts. But this was an opportunity to talk things over with someone she trusted. Who knew? Maybe she could finally figure out if this was for real, or if she was just misinterpreting everything.

“I…” she began, and took a deep breath before finally speaking the words she’d been afraid to admit to herself for weeks. “I think I like Korra. As more than a friend.”

It felt so strange to say those words out loud. It made the things she’d been feeling seem more real. And it felt good, oddly enough. Having it cooped up inside must have been causing more stress than she thought. She felt better now that someone else knew too.

Her aunt nodded. “I thought so.”

_Wait, what?_

“Wait, you knew?” Asami asked with genuine surprise. Her aunt smiled and shrugged.

“I had my suspicions, but didn’t want to assume.”

“Oh god, was it that obvious? Do you think Korra could tell?” Asami groaned, slipping her hand out of her aunt’s so she could bury her face in both of her own.

“Well she might have, if she wasn’t so distracted by you all the time.”

“Distracted by me?” Asami asked, turning her head to look at her aunt with furrowed brows. That didn’t make any sense.

“You haven’t noticed?” her aunt asked, an amused look coming to her face. Asami just shook her head. “Most of the time when I see her over here, she only has eyes for you. You could set the house on fire and she’d still be completely focused on whatever you had to say. It was no different last night. If anything, it’s even more obvious on her end.”

Asami felt her mind stall. Korra…she really did that? She hadn’t even noticed, but now as she thought back everything slowly began to click into place. The way she would beam whenever Asami walked out of the house. The way she was always checking to see if she was comfortable in the truck. The little glances she’d sometimes catch in her direction, but thought nothing of.

The realization sent that familiar lightness through her chest, but far stronger than she’d ever felt it before, because now there was hope fueling it.

“You think…you think she, you know, feels the same?” Asami asked, not missing the hopeful subtext in her own tone. Her aunt reached over to wrap her hands in both of hers and give them a reassuring squeeze.

“I do. Enough to bet my yearly subscription to Southern Living on it.”

Asami laughed. She felt so light right now. Getting her feelings off of her chest had already made her feel better, and now there was a possibility that Korra felt the same way? She felt like she could float up into the sky and walk on a cloud right now.

Her feelings of elation were cut short, however, when a knock sounded from the front door. Her aunt stood up to go answer it, but Asami already had a hunch about who it was.

“Hello Korra!” came her aunt’s voice from the hall. Asami felt her stomach flip. “I take it you’re here for Asami?”

“Um, yeah, I-I mean if she’s not busy or anything. I can always come back later if she is.”

Korra’s voice was quick and slightly higher than normal. She was nervous, just like she had been last night. Asami took a breath before calling out.

“I’m in here Korra.”

A moment later the cowgirl appeared from around the corner, wearing her usual jeans, boots, and blue flannel with a white cami underneath combo. She smiled when she spotted Asami at the kitchen table, and Asami felt herself exhale nervously. How had she never noticed that amazing smile that was always reserved just for her?

“Hey Asami! Are you busy tonight?”

“Not really, I was just sitting here admiring the little addition you gave the tablecloth last night,” she teased, feeling her confidence boost when Korra gave her a sheepish look.

“Eheh, yeah, sorry about that,” she said to her aunt as she walked past.

“Oh it’s nothing a few washes in strong bleach can’t fix,” she replied with a wave of her hand as she cleared the table. Korra started a little when she spotted the medical supplies, and her head whipped over to Asami.

“Wait, did you get hurt? Are you okay?” she asked quickly, walking closer to the table. Asami saw her eyes scanning her, looking for the injury, and the concern and panic in them made her want to laugh and go “aww” at the same time.

“It’s nothing, just a little cut,” she answered as she lifted up her hand to show off the bandage. Korra’s hand lifted the slightest bit, but froze mid-air before falling back to her side and clenching shut. Asami didn’t fail to notice.

“So, what did you need me for tonight?” Asami asked, and for a moment she swore she saw some color rise into the tan girl’s cheeks, but it was too quick for her to be sure.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a walk.”

Asami raised one eyebrow at her, which sent Korra into a ramble about how it had been a while since they’d hung out by themselves and how it was a nice night and how it would be fun to just chat girl-to-girl. The longer she went on the more flustered she became, and Asami decided it would be best to interrupt her before she completely imploded.

“I’d love to.”

Korra went silent, but a smile crept onto her face. “Really? Great! I’ll just wait outside for you then!”

The country girl turned and quickly left the house. After she heard the screen door slam shut Asami rose from the table to go grab her tennis shoes. She didn’t, however, miss the sly smile and wink her aunt gave her before she left the kitchen.

\----------

The rocks shifted beneath their feet as Korra and Asami walked down the dirt road together. The light of day was starting to shift, turning more yellow like it usually did just before sunset. It made all the colors of the countryside stand out more, like someone had turned up the saturation of the world. The greens and browns of the trees and the orange dirt of the road contrasted with the blue of the sky, and the fields looked like gold. Even the rust red of the fence posts looked beautiful.

Asami, however, especially loved what the late afternoon sun did to Korra. It shone on her face at just the right angle to make her vibrant blue eyes shine, especially when she laughed. The shadows cast by her bangs and her strong jaw gave her appearance a depth that she had never fully noticed before.

She couldn’t believe how blind she’d been. Somehow her aunt’s insight was making everything from the past month and half clear. The way Korra smiled at her while she was talking made her feel like the most important person in the world. It sent butterflies flittering through her stomach.

_Okay, so now what?_

And there was the million dollar question. Asami felt stuck. She knew she liked Korra, but now what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t just blab out her feelings. She didn’t know how deep Korra’s feelings ran, and admission might scare her away, which was something Asami definitely did not want to happen. Plus, there was still a part of her mind convinced that her aunt wasn’t right and that she was just misinterpreting everything. She wished she knew a good way to approach this.

“So,” Korra began as she kicked at the rock she’d been messing with for the past ten minutes, “there’s actually something I wanted to ask you.”

Asami kept a calm exterior, but inside she felt like screaming.

“Oh?”

“You know that rodeo we’ve been hearing about for a while now?”

“The one Mako and Bolin are going to be in, right?”

“Yeah, that one,” Korra answered, and Asami watched her kick the rock again and send it flying into the low bushes. “I was…well, I was wondering if you’d be interested in going with me?”

Asami stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face Korra. The shorter girl’s face was red and she refused to look at her.

“I-I mean, as friends of course. Not like a date or anything. That would be weird. It would be weird, right?” 

“Korra.”

“I mean maybe like a friend date, but not a _date_ date, you know? We could just go cheer on Bolin and Mako and be supportive friends.”

“Korra.”

“And I understand if you don’t want to go. The rodeo isn’t for everyone, and if you just wanted to chill or something I’d be okay with that too.”

“KORRA!”

Korra finally paused her ramblings to look up at her. Asami gave her a gentle smile.

“I’d love to go with you.”

Korra blinked. Her mouth hung open in shock for a moment before she finally found her voice again. “R-Really? You would?”

“Yes. It sounds like a lot of fun.”

“It is!” Korra quickly responded. They resumed walking and Korra began to animatedly describe everything the rodeo had to offer. She seemed to relax again, which Asami was thankful for.

As they walked, however, the reality of what she’d just agreed to sank in. She was going to the rodeo. With Korra. It made her giddy but extremely nervous at the same time. She had no idea what that night would have in store for her, but whatever it was, she hoped it ended well.

A sudden thought made her smile. She knew exactly what she was going to wear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're coming up on some fun chapters guys! I'm nervous but excited to write them out, mainly because these are very important ones and I want to get them just right.
> 
> Also, rambling Korra is freaking adorable.


	12. Fly Over States

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami and Korra head off to the rodeo!

Turns out her aunt was as much of a fashion expert as she was a love guru. Asami had originally planned on just wearing her dark maroon dress she’d brought with her. It cut off at her mid-thigh and was sleeveless, the neckline dipped just above her collarbone, and the fabric had a subtle floral pattern that saved it from being too plain. It was a personal favorite of hers, but when her aunt saw her trying it on with a pair of converse two days before the rodeo she said it wasn’t complete.

One trip to the mall in the next town over later, and Asami had the final two pieces she needed: one light blue jean jacket and a pair of cowgirl boots. The jacket reached her hips in the front and angled up in the back. The boots – Asami never imagined she’d own a pair – went just above her ankles and were a deep brown with lighter brown flowers and vines decorating them. She loved both additions, and as she looked at herself in the mirror the day before the rodeo she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. Korra was going to love this.

Asami didn’t know how she managed to sleep the night before. Her mind was abuzz with possibilities. A myriad of scenarios played out in her mind, some of which she laughed at while she secretly hoped others would come true.

The next morning she was practically glowing with excitement. The rodeo didn’t actually start until later that afternoon, so until then she would have to find some way to kill time. She ended up sitting with her aunt in the living room looking through Southern Living magazines and pointing out things they liked. Her aunt then surprised her with some country fashion magazines. They oohed and aahed at the models and the clothes – at one point Asami swore she heard her uncle give an exasperated sigh from behind his newspaper – until it finally came time for her to get ready.

Two hours before the rodeo, Asami found herself sitting at the vanity mirror brushing out her now dried hair. It had just the right amount of bounce to it, but she felt like something was missing.

“Asami?” her aunt called, and Asami saw her head peek from around the door in the mirror. “I have your jacket. It’s all cleaned and ready to go.”

“Thanks,” she replied with a smile as she turned on the little chair to face her. Her aunt walked over to her bed and draped it over the edge before turning to go.

“Wait,” Asami called. Her aunt turned back to meet her gaze. “I need your opinion on something.”

“Of course. What is it?”

“I’m not entirely sure what to do with my hair,” Asami admitted as she turned back to the mirror. She watched her aunt walk up and stand behind her, her eyes focused on the back of her head in deep thought. “I was debating pulling it up into a ponytail.”

“And miss the chance to show off your flowing locks to Korra?” her aunt teased. Asami blushed, but chuckled.

“She’s seen my hair down before you know.”

“True. But she’s never seen it down while you were wearing a dress.”

“Touché,” she replied. “But I still feel like keeping it down isn’t enough. I want to do something a little different.”

Her aunt pursed her lips as she thought for a few minutes before her eyes lit up. “Mind if I try something?”

“By all means,” Asami answered. She handed the brush over her shoulder and sat still while her aunt went to work. She took the front portion of her hair in her hands and pulled it back. She made a point to brush the hair back at the top of her head, effectively making the part vanish.

“Now I just need something to tie this back with,” her aunt mumbled as she scanned the table. Asami watched as she reached out for a small red ribbon. A minute later she heard her aunt give a content hum.

“Alright, done. What do you think honey?”

Asami looked at herself in the mirror. While a portion of her hair was tied back, the majority of it still hung loosely around her. It was a sort of half-ponytail, and it was perfect.

She was about to reply, but then a thought came to her mind that made her shoulders sink.

“Do you not like it?” her aunt asked, worry lines appearing.

“No, it’s perfect,” Asami answered as she shook her head. “It’s just…I’d almost forgotten what it was like to have someone do my hair.”

Her aunt’s face turned sympathetic and sad as she placed her hands on Asami’s shoulders.

“I know I can’t really speak for her,” her aunt said softly, “but I bet if she were here right now, she’d tell you how beautiful you look.”

Asami felt her eyes well up, and she reached up quickly to wipe away the moisture before it escaped. She reached up her hand to squeeze the one on her shoulder.

“Thank you,” she said quietly with a smile. Her aunt smiled right back and gave her a quick hug from behind before straightening back up.

“Now, finish getting ready. Korra will be here in half an hour to pick you up.”

Asami smiled at the thought and hurried to put on her makeup.

\----------

Naga’s engine rumbled outside the window as Korra pulled into the driveway. Asami shot up out of her seat, but quickly turned to check herself over one last time. She knew she looked good, but she still felt nervous about what the country girl would think. She took a deep breath, flashed herself a quick smile over her shoulder, and headed downstairs.

Her aunt was waiting for her in the hallway. She smiled when Asami walked up to her to give her a hug.

“Go get her,” she whispered into her ear, and Asami saw her smug smile when she pulled back. She rolled her eyes in response but gave her a quick thank you before grabbing her purse off the little table nearby. She waved to her uncle, who was busy eating dinner in the kitchen and offered her a chubby-cheeked smile and a wave in return.

Her hand hovered above the door handle for a moment. The nerves were making her body vibrate again, and she suddenly wondered whether she could do this.

_Come on Sato, it’s just Korra. It doesn’t matter what this is; what matters is that you have fun._

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

Korra was waiting for her at the bottom of the porch steps. She had on her jeans and cowboy boots, a snug black undershirt and a red plaid shirt, and of course her white cowboy hat. Her hair hung around her face as it usually did, but it seemed glossier than usual, like she’d put way more effort into making that way today. Asami thought she looked amazing, just like she had expected her to.

What she hadn’t expected, however, was the way Korra’s eyes went wide and her mouth hung open slightly as she spotted her. There was definitely color in her cheeks as her eyes looked her up and down a couple times.

“Wow,” she finally breathed. Asami smirked as she placed a hand on her hip.

“What do you think?” she asked, gesturing to herself. “Will this work for a rodeo?”

“Definitely. Asami, you look…”

“Country?”

“Beautiful.”

Asami tilted her head to the side to try and hide the blush that came to her cheeks and the embarrassed smile that spread across her face. They were both silent for a moment until Korra finally seemed to snap back to reality. Her confidence shone brightly as flashed her crooked grin and gestured to Naga.

“Shall we?”

\----------

Asami hadn’t been sure what to expect from a small town rodeo. She’d never been to one after all. As they pulled into the parking lot – it wasn’t even a real parking lot, just a large open dirt expanse – she got her first impression.

The rodeo was set up in the middle of a large open field about ten minutes outside of town. The parking lot they were currently in took up about a fourth of the area and was filled with trucks and older cars of all kinds. She saw people dressed in clothes like hers and Korra’s all walking towards the middle of the grounds. In the distance she could see dozens of poles with red, white, and blue pennant strings connecting them blowing gently in the late afternoon breeze. As she and Korra finally managed to escape the car maze of the parking lot, she finally saw the entrance to the rodeo itself. There were twenty or so booths and stalls set up a few yards away, all painted a myriad of colors and decorated with different themes. Some seemed to be owned by local businesses, while others were run by kids from the high school. A dirt path that extended from the parking lot ran between them and wrapped around to the right, where it vanish from sight behind a large set of bleachers. Just in front of them was a small table set up with volunteers taking money and giving out tickets.

“Wait,” she said, her brow furrowing as they approached, “I thought you said it didn’t cost anything to get in?”

“Oh that’s not for the competition. That’s for the food and games,” Korra explained. An older woman wearing red, white, and blue beads smiled at them as Korra handed over some money. In exchange she was given two sets of tickets with five red and one blue each.

“Here, you’ll need these,” Korra said as she handed over a set of tickets.

“Thanks. I’ll pay you back for these later.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on me tonight,” Korra replied with a wave of her hand.

“Korra…”

“Really Asami, I don’t mind.”

Asami was about to protest, but Korra placed her hand on her arm and gave it a soft squeeze. She felt her heart rate pick up a little bit at the contact, but she recovered quickly. She smiled slyly at the country girl before reaching up to flick her hat.

“Fine,” she teased. She chuckled when she saw Korra reach up to fix her hat and flash her a mock pout.

For the next hour the two girls walked around the numerous booths and stalls – the actual events of the rodeo didn’t start until later, Korra explained, and she had purposely brought them a little early so they could partake in some of the games. She showed Asami her favorites, including a ball toss game at a red and gold painted wooden booth. Despite her best efforts Asami couldn’t manage to knock over the bottles, which left Korra looking particularly smug. It earned her a soft punch to the arm, which Korra claimed was the reason she didn’t knock the bottles over on her first attempt afterwards. Regardless, she did get the bottles on the second go and Asami cheered as she whooped in victory. It earned her a yellow ticket, which she refused to explain the meaning of until later that night.

Korra’s stomach began to growl about fifteen minutes before the start of the main event. They decided to try some of the food from a booth owned by a local restaurant. Korra ordered them both some roasted corn on a stick. It seemed a little weird to Asami, but after the first bite she was in love.

“I don’t know what they put on this, but it’s amazing!” she exclaimed as she munched. Korra smiled as she chewed on a particularly large mouthful of corn herself.

“You know, they happen to be the best barbeque place in town.”

“If their other food is as good as this, I’ll believe it!”

“I did promise I'd take you there sometime. If you want, that is,” Korra said, and Asami looked over at her. She seemed a little nervous, but Asami quickly smiled at her and gave a small nod.

“I’d like that.”

Korra smiled brightly at her. A bell rang out to her right, and she looked over to see everyone walking towards the bleachers she saw earlier. The girls walked with the crowd around the corner, and Asami finally saw the stadium. Well, not a stadium like the ones she’d seen for the professional sports in the city. It was a large fenced off area filled with loose orange dirt. On the far end she could see sets of gates and chutes with cows and horses, all being managed by the handlers and competitors. Beyond them were dozens of trailers. She and Korra walked up the bleachers to the very top, where Korra insisted they would get the best view, and she saw a tall stage set up to her left. She could see official looking people dressed in cowboy hats and suits seated there, along with announcers and their technical gear.

It was about the size of a high school football field in total, and the vibe from the crowd certainly felt like a homecoming game. Everyone was buzzing with conversation. She could hardly look anywhere without spotting someone hugging someone else or talking animatedly or laughing. Seemed like everyone knew everyone else here. Even Korra waved to some younger looking kids a few rows down.

“This is a lot of people for one town,” Asami said to Korra.

“Ha, as if my town had this many people,” Korra laughed. “A lot of these people are from neighboring towns. We all come together for festivals and football games pretty regularly though, so we all know each other anyways.”

“You wouldn’t see something like this in the city,” she mused. Korra leaned back against the back railing of the bleacher with a grin.

“That’s one more thing the country has over the city: community.”

Asami couldn’t argue with that. It was so strange to see people come together like this. The air was so friendly and welcoming, and it made something stir inside her chest: a warmth she hadn’t experienced before.

Before she could dwell on the feeling, however, the announcers came over the speakers to announce the first event: bareback riding. Mako apparently did the saddle bronc riding event, which wasn’t until later, but as the rodeo clowns took the field she began to scan them. One particularly hyper clown caught her attention, and she immediately recognized Bolin. His face was painted half red and half blue, and he had on overalls and a crazy tie-dye shirt. At one point he spotted the two of them sitting up in the bleachers, and he gave an excited wave and holler in their direction. Asami laughed and waved back and heard Korra mumble about what a goofball he was before the event started.

The longer the rodeo went on the more invested Asami became. She felt the strangest mix of adrenaline and anxiety as she watched cowboy after cowboy take on the wild beasts. It was dangerous and exciting, and she knew that there was no way in hell she’d ever be able to do something like that.

The announcers soon came on to advertise the start of the saddle bronc riding. She noticed Korra shift in her seat a little. Her face and bouncing leg betrayed her concern. Asami reached over to place a hand on top of Korra’s. The country girl looked over at her, eyebrows raised.

“He’s going to be fine,” she said as she gave her hand a squeeze. Korra smiled, but the anxious look remained in her eyes.

“I know. I still can’t help but be nervous though, you know?”

“What exactly happened? I don’t think we ever got around to it at the pool.”

Korra’s face darkened for a moment before she looked back to the stadium. “It was a freak accident. Last year he was doing his ride as usual when he got caught in the rope they use to secure their hands. The rodeo clowns did their best to try and get him loose, but he was stuck to the bronco’s side for a good minute before he was finally freed. And just when we thought he was safe the horse bucked its legs back right into his head.”

Asami lifted her hand to cover her mouth in shock. Korra noticed and turned back to her.

“The doctors said that it was a miracle that he wasn’t hurt any worse, but it still kept him in the hospital for a few days. And even after the injuries healed Mako still struggled. Hell, he gave up the scholarships he had because of it. I kept urging him to at least try again, but he didn’t want to go anywhere near the rodeo for a long time.”

“Is that why you broke up?” Asami murmured. Her eyes went wide when she realized she’d said it out loud, but Korra didn’t seem offended. Instead she snorted and smiled as she looked back down at the stadium.

“Nah, we broke up because we butted heads too much. We’re both so stubborn; it was only matter of time before it ended. The rodeo just kind of pushed us there a little sooner. Probably for the best honestly. We’re both much happier as friends.”

_Wow, dodged a bullet with that one. Smooth Sato._

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. I mean look at how things are now. Mako’s back in the rodeo and doing what he loves.”

“And you?” Asami asked. Korra looked over at her suddenly, and Asami was caught off guard by the look in her eyes.

“I’m here with you. I’d call that a win any day.”

Asami was too stunned to reply.

The first couple riders were a blur to Asami. She was too focused on what Korra had said. The line kept repeating itself over and over in her mind and kept the lightness lingering in her chest for a good while. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling a few times, and she was thankful that Korra didn’t notice. She must have thought she was immersed in the action instead of in her own thoughts.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, returning to the stadium for the first time in a year, iiiiiit’s Makooooo!”

The crowd erupted in applause as Mako came into view near the pens. He tipped his black cowboy hat to crowd, and Asami saw him smile when he caught sight of them. They waved back and watched as he prepped himself for his ride. Despite the comforting words she’d said moments ago, Asami couldn’t help the way her stomach twisted when the bronco bucked in the pen. For a few tense moments he was still before she saw him nod to the handlers.

The gate opened. Asami knew that the goal was to hang on for just eight seconds, but each second felt agonizingly long as the bronco bucked and kicked wildly into the air. Mako’s body was jerked back and forth violently as her held on for dear life. Suddenly the bronco gave a powerful kick into the air and Mako went flying off into the dirt. A collective gasp echoed through the crowd as the clowns ran over to distract the horse. Bolin was the first by his brother’s side, and Asami held her breath as he knelt down to check on him. She didn’t have to hold it long because Mako soon stood and jogged with Bolin to the edge of the arena and to safety.

Mako had only lasted five seconds, but the crowd still gave him a standing ovation. It seemed like everyone felt the same amount of happiness that Asami was feeling right now for him. For a moment she let her eyes wander the crowd, soaking in the moment. The thought of an entire town knowing who you were, supporting you and cheering you on like this…it was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. The atmosphere was infectious, and she couldn’t stop smiling through the rest of the events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I am on a roll with this story right now! I haven't posted chapters this back-to-back in a long time.
> 
> This chapter's song needs a little explanation. It's not directly related by its lyrics or its title, but rather by its feel. This song embodies the feeling of what country is to me. Every time I hear it play I can feel something stir deep in my chest. It's difficult to explain, but if I had to try and put words to it I'd say it's a mixture of nostalgia and pride.


	13. (Kissed You) Good Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami doesn't quite get the ending to the night she was hoping for.

The rest of the rodeo went off without a hitch, and Asami was pretty sure she was a huge fan of barrel racing now. During the breaks Asami laughed at Bolin’s antics, from his poorly done cartwheels to his mock matador skit he did with another clown. He even ran over to the edge of the arena to steal Mako’s hat, which lead to an unexpected five minute long chase all over the place that left her and Korra both in stitches with laughter.

The audience applauded loudly after the final contestant, and Asami was about to get up to go when Korra reached over to grab her arm.

“Hold on, it’s not over yet.”

“But that was the last event, right?” she asked, giving Korra a puzzled look. The country girl just smirked at her, refusing to say anything as she pulled her back down to the bench.

“AAAAAlright folks,” came the announcer’s voice over the speakers, “it’s time for everyone’s favorite event! If you’ve got a yellow ticket, come on down for the Calf Catching Contest!”

“Wish me luck,” Korra said as she waved the small yellow ticket from earlier at her with a crooked grin.

“Korra, wait, what?”

It was too late. She was already halfway down the bleachers. Asami watched her hop over the fence into the dirt along with about two dozen other people. Most of them were larger, buff looking men, but based on the way Korra high fived some of them with a laugh Asami guessed that they didn’t intimidate her at all.

_Of course they don’t. This is Korra we’re talking about._

Soon the tickets were collected and the competitors were lined up on the left side of the arena. A commotion caught Asami’s attention on the opposite end, and she saw some of the staff corralling a calf into one of the pens. She spotted a small red flag tied to the calf’s tail, and the announcers soon explained to the crowd that the goal was to catch the calf and capture the flag. The winner would receive one hundred dollars.

A countdown began, and Asami saw Korra look up at her in the stands. She flashed her a grin and a small salute just before the buzzer went off. The calf came running out of the pen at break neck speed, and the competitors took off in a sprint straight for it.

The only word Asami could think of to describe the scene that played out before her was chaotic. Men leaped left and right for the calf, and each time it managed to swerve out of range. One managed to grab a leg as he fell, but the calf was able to slip away before anyone else could get a good grip on it. Korra held herself back from the immediate crowd, and it didn’t take long for Asami to realize why. She was letting the calf and the other competitors tire themselves out first. Smart.

The calf stopped for a moment on the left side of the arena, and that’s when Korra took off. The reaction of the calf was delayed, so by the time it started running Korra was practically on top of it. She jumped and managed to grab it around the middle, and that’s when it began to jump and buck wildly, knocking her hat off in the process. Asami felt her stomach twist nervously as she watched Korra struggle to hold on, and she gasped when the calf finally shook her off. The country girl lay still on her back in the dirt, and Asami swore she felt her heart stop. The crowd seemed unsure as well, but when Korra sat up and raised the small red flag triumphantly above her head everyone cheered. None of them were as loud as Asami, however, who cupped her hands around her mouth to yell loudly. Korra walked over to retrieve her hat, and when she turned back to the crowd her eyes immediately found hers. She smiled and took a low bow, earning more applause from the stands. Asami just shook her head, but was happy for her.

Soon Korra was making her way back up to her in the stands, money in her pocket and dirt covering her from head to toe.

“Well that was exciting!” Asami laughed as Korra took her seat. The country girl turned to her and grinned.

“It always is. That was my first time winning too!”

“Really? You made it look so easy.”

“What can I say, I had a good luck charm this time,” she replied with a wink and a crooked grin. Asami blushed and shoved Korra’s shoulder. A small cloud of dust flew into the air in response.

“Geez, you’re filthy,” she commented with mock disgust. Korra gave her an evil look before removing her hat and shaking her head roughly back and forth. Asami squealed and scooted away to avoid the dust. The country girl just laughed at her glare.

“Alright, alright, I’ll go pat myself down over there,” Korra chuckled as she stood up and went to the far corner of the bleachers to shake off the dust. She soon returned, far less dirty now, but Asami noticed a small patch of dirt still covering her cheek.

“Hang on, you missed a spot,” she laughed and reached up to brush it away. It was only after the dirt was gone that she noticed Korra’s wide eyes and warm face as her fingers brushed her cheek. Asami felt herself freeze, her own face heating up before she quickly removed her hand.

“Thanks,” Korra said, her voice soft.

“No problem,” Asami replied quickly. “S-So, are there any more little events like that, or was that it for the night?”

“Um,” Korra said as she snapped out of it, “I think the fireworks are all that’s left.”

Not two seconds later the lights in the arena shut off. The entire field was submersed in darkness, save for the few phone screens Asami could see in the crowd below. Boisterous music began to play, and a single stream of sparkles shot up into the sky before exploding in a burst of blue. More fireworks shot up after it, lighting up the field with reds, golds, greens, oranges, blues, and silvers. It wasn’t as impressive as some of the displays Asami had seen back home in the city, but it was still fun to watch.

It was, at least, until she felt something cover her right hand. She looked down to see another hand covering it, and she quickly realized that it was Korra’s. Asami looked up and saw that Korra was extremely focused on the lights exploding above them. When the next firework went off, however, she saw her glance over. The gold of the explosion lit up her face, and even in the darkness Asami could see the way her blue eyes shone brightly.

Forget the fireworks, the light of Korra’s eyes was far more spectacular right now. The air became heavy with expectation, and the beating of her heart matched the force of the exploding fireworks. She knew both of them could sense it, but neither was sure what to do. They were walking such a fine line, and Asami knew that once they crossed it there was no going back.

She was scared. So, instead of doing what she wanted to do, she simply laced her fingers through Korra’s and smiled at her. The country girl’s eyes looked down for a moment before coming back up to meet hers. The small smile that spread across her face told Asami that this was enough for now, and they turned back to watch the fireworks together.

\----------

The fireworks brought the rodeo to a close. Asami and Korra stopped by the pens to visit with Mako and Bolin for a bit before they left. They all laughed about Bolin’s hat theft and Korra’s impressive run with the calf. Everyone said how proud they were of Mako too, which made him blush but smile regardless.

The atmosphere was extremely positive after they said goodbye to the boys and were walking back to Naga. Asami couldn’t stop talking about how much fun the rodeo was, which pleased Korra to no end. They talked back and forth about their favorite moments of the night during the drive back. They even sang along loudly to one of the few country songs Asami now knew well enough, blasting the radio out the rolled down windows into the warm night air.

They were both giggling as Korra pulled Naga up into the drive.

“I can’t believe you’ve never done that before!” Korra exclaimed as she put Naga in park.

“Kind of hard to in the city. There’s so many cars around that you wouldn’t be able to hear your own music if you rolled down the windows. Not to mention the amount of exhaust would probably kill you.”

“One more point for the country then,” Korra teased. Asami rolled her eyes. For a moment they sat in the truck in silence, and she allowed the lingering high of the night to envelop her.

“I had a great time tonight,” she finally said as she looked down at her hands, suddenly nervous. She felt her right hand tingle slightly as the memory of her hand entwined with Korra’s came to mind.

“Me too. I’m glad you came with me,” Korra replied. Silence settled between them once again, and Asami glanced over at her just as Korra did the same. They stared at each other as that same heavy air from before returned. Asami already had her seat belt off. It would be so easy to just lean over and…

_Whoa, hold on Sato. You want to go from hand-holding to a kiss just like that? What happened to not kissing on the first date?_

Asami had never wanted her brain to have an on/off switch so badly in her life. Another eventless moment passed, and Korra seemed to escape whatever spell the moment held over them both.

“So, uh, I’ll see you around then?”

Asami blinked, coming out of the moment herself.

“Y-Yeah. I’ll see you around cowgirl.”

_Cowgirl? Really?_

Asami berated herself mentally as she opened the passenger side door and slid down onto the gravel of the driveway. She walked slowly to the front porch. Somewhere in her subconscious she was hoping Korra would jump out of the truck and stop her, grab her in her arms, and just kiss her right here. But that didn’t happen. Instead she turned to see Korra slowly backing out of the drive. She waved at her through the windshield, and Asami waved back from the front steps before watching her drive off towards the hill.

Her hand fell back to her side. Asami waited until Naga’s lights were out of sight before she finally walked inside. Her aunt greeted her from the living room with a big smile and asked her how the night went. Asami put on as convincing of a smile as she could muster to tell her that it was great but that she was tired and would rather tell her all about it in the morning. Ever perceptive, her aunt seemed to sense something wasn’t quite right, but she didn’t press the issue and simply wished her a good night’s rest.

Asami’s steps felt sluggish as she walked up the steps, and it wasn’t until she was sure the door to her room was closed that finally let out a sad sigh.

Why didn’t she do it? All she had to do was lean forward, close her eyes, and go for it. Hell she could have just kissed her cheek!

_Okay, so why didn’t Korra try it? She didn’t look like she was trying to do anything._

The thought made Asami pause. She replayed the moment in her mind. Korra hadn’t tried to lean in either. She’d sat there in the moment just like she did. But what did it mean? Was she stuck just like Asami had been? Or had she not even been considering trying anything? If Asami had tried something, would she have expected it? Did she even want it? But Korra had been the one to initiate the hand-holding at the rodeo. Didn’t that mean something? But how much?

Asami flopped down onto her bed and shut her eyes. She hated how hard this was. There were so many thoughts and doubts swirling in her head, and none of them were getting her anywhere. She propped herself up with her hands and glanced over to the window. Her eyes instantly found the spot where the mailbox would be on the hill.

She sighed again. Asami quickly shed her outfit and got herself ready for bed, all the while trying to calm her overworking mind. Trying to analyze every detail of the night was pointless. She couldn’t go back and change it even if she wanted to. Soon she was snuggling herself under the covers, but she found that she couldn’t sleep right away. Instead, she stared up at the ceiling with an increasingly heavy heart until her mind tired itself out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What, you thought you were going to get a kiss from this chapter? What could possibly have made you think that? *whistles innocently*
> 
> If you listen to the song though, you'll understand why I used it for this chapter's title...


	14. A Real Fine Place to Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami takes some advice from her aunt and uncle, and makes sure her second chance doesn't slip by when Korra shows her something special.

The next morning Asami told her tale to her aunt over breakfast. Her aunt listened carefully to everything, nodding and asking for more details every now and then. Finally she leaned back in her chair and chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Asami asked, feeling a little miffed that her aunt was laughing at something that was making her feel miserable.

“Oh nothing, just thinking back to when my husband and I were trying to figure things out.”

“Oh yeah? Was it just as annoying as my situation is?”

“Worse,” her aunt replied. “I knew I liked him and was constantly dropping hints in his direction, but your uncle was so dense that it took him months to finally pick up on them. I wasn’t even trying to be subtle.”

“But I did get it eventually,” her uncle said as he walked into the kitchen. He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her aunt’s cheek before heading to the fridge. “So what are my girls up to this morning?”

“Just talking,” Asami answered quickly. Her aunt must have noticed her sudden nervous shift, because she reached over to place a hand on top of hers.

“We were discussing a love advice article we saw in a magazine the other day,” her aunt explained, and Asami was grateful that she covered for her for now. She heard her uncle hum.

“Well I’m not really the greatest when it comes to romance,” her uncle started – her aunt snorted softly and rolled her eyes – before turning to face them with a protein shake in hand, “but if I’ve learned anything from being with your aunt it’s that subtlety isn’t always the best way to go. Things could have gotten started much sooner if she hadn’t tried to hard to be sneaky.”

“I was not being sneaky!” her aunt retorted, swatting at his arm. He leaned back with a chuckle.

“My point is, if you want them to know, just tell them. Don’t dance around each other for so long that you never get the chance to dance together.”

“My, you’re so eloquent this morning,” her aunt teased. Her uncle shrugged on his way out of the kitchen. “He’s right though,” she added as she turned back to Asami, “the longer you wait, the less time you’ll have together.”

Asami mulled over their words for the rest of the morning and the afternoon. She knew they were right, but every time she thought about telling Korra her stomach twisted up. The nerves, plus the screaming of her mind about it being a horrible idea, made the possibility of going for it seem unfeasible.

Not to say that she didn’t want to. God she wanted to tell Korra so badly. Her aunt was convinced that the country girl did feel the same way, and after last night Asami couldn’t argue against it, but the problem was that she didn’t know just how much Korra felt. The best way to find out would be to ask her.

And that brought her right back to square one. Asami tilted her head back against the living room couch with a sigh. There had to be some way to get out of this loop. If she didn’t she’d probably go insane soon.

Her chance for an escape came later in the afternoon when a knock came from the front door. Asami shot up off the couch and walked quickly to the door. She was pleasantly surprised to see Korra there, wearing a green plaid shirt over a white tank top, along with her usual jeans and boots.

“Hey Korra!” she said, perhaps with a little more enthusiasm than was necessary.

“Hey Asami,” she replied with a smile. “So, I know we already spent last night together and…”

“Korra, we’ve been hanging out pretty consistently for the past month. One more night is nothing new.”

“Right,” Korra replied with a laugh. “But I was wondering if I could show you something new this time?”

“Like what?” Asami asked, head tilted to the side slightly.

“It’s a surprise,” Korra answered with a knowing smile. Asami stared at her, trying to get some kind of hint from her face, but she wasn’t giving up anything. Her smile just turned into a cocky smirk.

“Alright, you don’t have to be so mysterious about it,” she huffed with a roll of her eyes. “Just give me a minute to let my aunt know I’ll be missing dinner tonight.”

“Okay. I’ll be waiting in Naga. But make it fast, we’re gonna have to book it so we don’t miss it!”

Asami gave her a puzzled look before turning towards the back. The laundry room at the back left of the house had a door leading to the backyard, where she found her aunt tending to a small vegetable garden.

“Korra’s here,” she said quickly. Her aunt smiled and straightened up as she brushed off her hands. “She wants to show me something tonight, so I won’t be at dinner.”

“Did she say what it was?” her aunt asked, and when Asami shook her head she laughed. “Sneaky girl.”

“Do I look okay?” Asami asked, gesturing to the white v-neck t-shirt, the skinny jeans, and the short cowboy boots she had on. Her aunt placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“You look beautiful as always. Now go, don’t keep her waiting. I’ll make sure to save something for you to eat when you get back.”

Asami gave her aunt a quick hug before practically running back through the house. True to her word Korra was waiting for her in Naga, and she grabbed her phone from the living room table before jogging outside. She leapt up into Naga and had just enough time to put on her seatbelt before Korra sped them out of the driveway.

“Whoa, what’s the hurry?” she asked, releasing her hold on the passenger side door as Korra found a good cruising speed.

“Gotta get there before the sun sets,” Korra answered, but when Asami asked why she refused to say anything else. Instead she decided to watch the scenery fly by them. The yellow effect of the late afternoon sun was already making the colors pop. They drove through town, and Asami could see kids playing in their front yards, people sitting in plastic chairs on their front porches, and teenagers playing basketball on their driveways. It seemed like this time of day was just as alluring to everyone else as it was to her.

Soon the town slipped behind them as they drove out on a two lane road. There were a decent amount of people out on the road right now, and Korra explained that it was people returning home from work in the larger towns. Many of them worked for a local refinery, while others were employed by a larger ranch that produced dairy and beef products sold throughout the region. The concept of driving for miles to get to the place you worked was foreign to Asami. Most people she knew walked or rode their bikes to work in the city. Sure some had to travel further, like her father when he went on business trips, but that wasn’t what the majority of people did.

It was such a different way of life out here. Slower paces, simpler pleasures, and farther distances. She couldn’t imagine herself living like this.

Her train of thought was interrupted when Korra pulled off onto a dirt road enclosed by trees. The road was narrow, and Asami could hear tree branches scratch at Naga’s sides.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“You’ll see,” Korra replied. Asami was beginning to feel like she was on the set of some slasher horror film when the trees finally broke. She caught sight of an old looking red-brick building to her right. The truck pulled up right in front of it.

“What is this place?” she murmured. Korra was already hopping out of the truck, so Asami followed her. They walked towards the front entrance, albeit Asami walked with a little more caution. Korra noticed and turned to give her a reassuring smile.

“It’s an old school. I found this a few years ago while out on a drive. Not many people know it’s here.”

“Is it safe to go inside?”

“Well I haven’t died yet,” Korra replied with a chuckle. Asami didn’t find it very funny. This place looked ancient, and the odds of it still being structurally sound were slim. Korra’s face softened and she held out her hand.

“You’ll be alright. Trust me.”

Asami looked between Korra and the building one last time before reaching out to take her hand. She allowed Korra to guide her into the old school. Her apprehension was quickly replaced by curiosity as she glanced around at the walls and into the few doors that were open. There were remnants of murals on the walls depicting cowboys and oil rigs and open plains. Papers were scattered all over the floors, most of them far too aged to be read. Sunlight streamed into the rooms they passed through broken windows and illuminated the dust particles that floated lazily through the air. The entire place had a musty smell to it, but not in a bad way. It smelled like history.

They went up a couple flights of stairs that creaked loudly. Asami worried for a minute about them collapsing under their feet, but they were sturdier than they looked. Korra stopped them at the top of the final set of stairs and released her hand before walking over to a ladder that was far too modern to have been here originally.

“I found this hatch and brought the ladder here about a year ago,” Korra explained as she climbed up and twisted a metal handle. It squeaked loudly until a loud thud sounded in the still air of the hallway. She pushed up on it and the hatch opened up. Light streamed in and surrounded Korra, who looked back to her and gestured for her to follow her up. Asami obliged, and soon found herself standing on the roof of the old school.

“This is what I wanted to show you,” Korra said. Asami looked over to see her standing at the low wall surrounding the roof. She joined her by the edge and gasped.

The school was tall enough for her to see over the tops of the trees. They stretched on for miles in front of her, rolling with the gentle hills. The few clear areas revealed things like the town, pastures filled with cows, and fields with slowly pumping oil derricks that reminded her of the little one back on the living room shelf. She could see areas where the trees were interrupted by a river or a road and how they snaked in all directions.

What really made the scene, however, was the addition of the sunset. The sky above her was in the middle of transitioning from its usual blue to the gradient that only the setting sun could bring about. The few clouds in the sky were backlit by the glowing orb, giving them an orange outline that faded to purple. She could actually see the sun sinking closer to the horizon, turning the sky a subdued orange near the surface that faded to a lighter orange above until it blended to light blue. The world below it was a blend of a deep purple, red, and green.

Never in her life had Asami seen a sky so vast or so beautiful. She felt she could get lost staring at its splendor forever, and she wouldn’t mind at all.

“Korra,” she finally breathed after a few moments of stunned silence, “this is incredible.”

“It’s why I go speeding by your house most nights,” Korra replied, and Asami glanced over at her in time to see her smile at the horizon. “This view always makes me feel…content.”

“I can see why. It’s so peaceful up here.”

“You know, you’re the first person I’ve ever shown this place to.”

“Really? Not even Mako?”

“Not even Mako.”

They fell silent again. Asami watched the sun turn from gold to red-orange as it finally touched the horizon.

“Korra?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for sharing this with me.”

Korra turned her head and they both looked into each other’s eyes. The light of the setting sun made Korra look like she was glowing. She smiled then, and it was the most beautiful thing Asami had ever seen.

“You’re welcome,” Korra replied softly. They both turned back to watch the sun continue its final descent. That was when Asami felt something stir inside of her. There was something about this moment that made her feel brave. Maybe it was the knowledge that Korra had never shown this to anyone but her. Maybe it was the high that the beautiful scenery was giving her. The exact reason didn’t matter. Here was the perfect opportunity to try and do what she had failed to do last night, and she’d be damned if she missed it again. She shoved the warnings of her mind away as she turned to look over at Korra. They were standing side by side; all she had to do was lean over a bit, tilt her head just a little, and place her lips to the cowgirl’s cheek.

So she did.

She felt Korra freeze beneath her. As she pulled back she saw her light blue eyes look over at her in shock. Panic immediately set in, and Asami was about to start apologizing profusely when something shifted in Korra’s eyes. Her tan hand lifted towards her, her thumb gliding over her jawline before her fingers reached the hair at the nape of her neck. Asami couldn’t help the small shiver that ran down her spine at the touch. She felt herself being pulled in and offered no resistance as the space between them shrunk.

Asami’s eyes closed just as their lips met. The kiss was gentle and cautious, and it only lasted for a few seconds, but the response it sent through Asami’s body was electric. Before Korra could pull away completely she pushed forward to capture her lips again, emboldened by the moment. She felt Korra smile against her lips as she responded in turn, kissing back into her much more confidently this time. Korra’s hand grasped at her hair as Asami lifted her hands to cup the sides of Korra’s face. She pulled her face closer as Korra wrapped her other hand around her waist and pressed them together.

She’d been imagining what this moment could be like for the past few weeks. None of it was even close to just how amazing it actually was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY DID THE THING! :D
> 
> Took me a while to figure out a location for this to happen, it switched between this, the roof of the school, or up on a water tower. The latter two seemed a bit harder to do privately (not to mention they'd probably get in trouble) and I wanted this to be something that only Korra would know about.
> 
> Funny thing, my cousins' dad actually did own the rights to an old school like the one described here. It was way older though, from the early 1900s or later 1800s (don't remember exactly). The one here is from more like the 1950s.
> 
> And as for that sunset, well, you can see that anywhere if you take the time to look :)


	15. Just a Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami talks to Korra about their relationship, and then they go out for barbeque.

She needed to talk to Korra.

As Asami reached the beginning of the hill her mind slipped back to last night. Heat rose in her cheeks at the memory of the kiss. It had been one of the most magical moments she’d ever experienced, and based on how Korra had reacted it was equally as exciting for her. Their shared laughter and embrace afterwards was generated by the immense amount of relief they both felt at finally doing what they had wanted to for weeks. Asami had to admit she’d been shocked when Korra said she’d thought about it too.

But that was as far as the talking went. They’d lapsed into easy conversation next to each other, content to watch the last of the sunset side by side. After that Korra had driven her back home before heading on her own way, but not before giving her a quick goodnight kiss. Asami couldn’t imagine how silly she must have looked when she walked through the front door with her hand on her cheek and a small smile on her face. Her aunt had practically started vibrating in the living room seat.

Now, however, was not the time to talk to her about it. Asami wasn’t really sure what she’d say. Yes, she and Korra had kissed, but what did that mean now? That’s what she wanted to find out. So she continued up the hill, panting heavily at the effort but determined to make it to Korra’s house. She shot a triumphant look at the mailbox as she passed it.

Ten minutes later she found herself in front of the familiar wood door. She lifted her hand to knock, but then hesitated. Asami felt nerves rising inside and she couldn’t figure out why. They were just going to talk; it was no big deal. Just a quick conversation to set things straight and then they’d be good. She forced a breath and reached forward to knock.

The door swung open before her knuckles could make contact to reveal a very shocked looking Korra.

“Whoa, Asami, hey! I was just coming to see you,” she laughed.

“K-Korra!” Asami exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest to calm herself down. “Wow, this is a really weird coincidence.”

“No kidding,” Korra agreed as she stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her. Before Asami could say anything Korra leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on her cheek. Heat bloomed in Asami’s cheeks, and despite her nerves she couldn’t help but smile.

“You know you look really cute when you blush,” Korra teased. Asami only blushed more, causing Korra to chuckle. “Come on, let’s go get some lunch. If I remember right, I promised to take a certain cute girl out to the best barbeque joint in town.”

“Korra…” Asami began, but the words got caught in her throat. This wasn’t happening how she had expected. All she had meant to do was sit Korra down and talk about the reality of their situation. She hadn’t expected her to be right at the door with those bright blue eyes and that smile that she knew was just for her. Then that gentle kiss…this was all so new, and she was loving every second of it.

It made her afraid to say anything.

“Asami?”

Korra’s voice brought her out of her thoughts. The cowgirl was giving her a curious look.

“N-Nothing. Let’s go,” she replied, turning to Naga.

_Coward._

She only made it down the steps before a hand reached out and took hers.

“Asami,” Korra said, a little more firmly. Asami turned and was met with a pair of concerned blue eyes staring right at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really,” she tried.

“You’re a terrible liar, you know that?” Korra replied. Asami opened her mouth to protest, but was met with a single raised eyebrow and unconvinced look. She sighed.

“How are you so good at reading me?”

“We’ve been together pretty much non-stop for the past month and a half,” Korra explained with a shrug. “I’ve picked up on a few things.”

Asami smirked. “You’re more observant than I thought.”

Korra smirked right back. “You’d be surprised how much I notice. Now come on, tell me what’s wrong.”

Asami looked down at their still entwined hands. “This is what we need to talk about,” she answered, lifting their hands up together. Korra gave her a confused look. Instead of immediately replying, Asami pulled Korra towards Naga. She seemed to get the hint and released her hand to go around to the driver’s side.

Soon they were both settled inside the cab. Korra adjusted the air conditioning as Asami tried to collect her thoughts. She wanted to make sure she said this right.

“So, you want to talk about us?” Korra started. Asami nodded. A sad look passed over Korra’s face. “Are you…having second thoughts?”

“No!” Asami exclaimed. “I mean, I want this, but there’s just…a lot to consider.”

“Like what?” Korra asked.

“Well, first of all, what even is this? Are we experimenting, are we just having a fling, or are we actually trying to have a relationship? I have no idea what to even define this thing between us as. And with me being here for only two more months roughly, is this even worth pursuing? Do we have time?”

She couldn’t help letting the questions spill over. They’d plagued her all night and she felt good getting them out in the open like this. Of course she had no idea how Korra would react – she’d played multiple possibilities over in her mind and none of them seemed right – and that kept the nerves firmly rooted in her stomach.

Korra was silent for a few moments before she sighed and smiled.

“So I’m guessing you were up all night too then.”

Asami felt her eyebrows shoot up. Admittedly that was not one of the responses she had imagined; however, it was probably the best one she could have ended up with. In a way she found comfort in the fact that Korra was thinking about this too.

“A good part of it, yes,” she admitted with a sigh. Korra chuckled.

“Well, I don’t really have an answer to most of those questions,” Korra began, “but I do know this: I want to give this a shot, whatever it is. I don’t want to be stuck wondering without ever knowing if we could actually make this work. And if it doesn’t work out, then we can go our separate ways knowing we tried.”

“You really want to do this? Even with me leaving in two months?” Asami asked, surprised. Korra smiled and took her hand.

“If anything that only makes me want to do this more.”

“That’s…ridiculously sweet and sappy,” Asami answered with a laugh. Korra’s smile widened into its signature crooked style.

“It’s not my fault. You bring it out of me,” she replied.

Asami couldn’t keep herself from leaning over and kissing Korra. The relief she felt right now was incredible. She was so glad they’d talked about this sooner than later. As she she pulled away, however, one final thought came to mind.

“So…what does this make us then? Are we girlfriends?”

“Do you want to be?” Korra asked as she reached up to brush some fallen hair behind her ear. Asami thought about it for a moment.

“Can we wait? I just want to figure things out a little more first.”

Korra nodded. “That’s fine. We can just be gals being pals!”

Asami snorted. Korra laughed.

\----------

Korra hadn’t exaggerated when she said the barbeque at this place was amazing. Asami had tried a variety of foods back in the city, but this was something completely new. She could tell they took their time cooking their meats, especially the ribs. Korra claimed that the wet ribs were the best, but Asami was pretty convinced the dry rub kind she had were better. They were certainly cleaner, if the pile of napkins Korra had by the end were any indication.

Asami was also fairly certain she was addicted to coleslaw now.

“Oh my god I am never going to eat again,” Korra groaned as she patted her stomach. Asami playfully poked it, causing Korra to yelp.

“I seriously doubt that, based on what Bolin told us after the rodeo.”

Korra raised her pointer finger. “First of all, he had no business sharing my eating habits. Second, he was correct. And third, I don’t care what he claimed that night; I could easily beat him in a hot dog eating contest.”

Asami laughed. “I’d pay good money to see you go up against Bolin.”

“Challenge accepted,” Korra replied with a devious grin.

As she began to wonder what horror she’d just unleashed on her future self, she felt Korra reach over and take her hand.

Asami froze. Her eyes immediately darted around the small restaurant, which was currently packed with lunch time patrons. She hated the instant paranoia that filled her mind, but she couldn’t help it. Years of growing up in a city where everyone wanted to know everything about everyone else, especially the daughter of a prominent businessman, had made her extremely cautious. It was practically instinct to watch for peering eyes.

Korra must have noticed her sudden discomfort, because the warmth that had enveloped her hand was replaced by the cool restaurant air. Asami looked over at her apologetically.

“Sorry, I just…”

“It’s fine Asami. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“No,” Asami replied with a firm shake of her head. “It’s not you. It’s…I’m just not comfortable with this in crowds yet. I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Korra said, nudging her with her shoulder, “you don’t need to apologize for that. I understand.”

Asami smiled. “Thank you.”

\----------

Naga pulled to a gentle stop in front of Asami’s aunt and uncle’s house. They’d decided to stay for dessert, which turned out to be a huge mistake according to her stomach. Still, the pie was delicious, and she was always happy to spend more time with Korra.

“Your aunt isn’t going to be mad that I stole you away for lunch, is she?” Korra asked.

“I don’t think so. If anything I think she’ll be happy to hear it.”

Korra’s head tilted to the side. “Wait, why?”

“She knows Korra.”

The cowgirl’s eyes went wide. “She does? How? Did you tell her?”

“She figured it out herself, actually. Apparently we weren’t all that subtle,” Asami replied with a sheepish smile. A blush covered Korra’s cheeks right before she crossed her forearms on the steering wheel and buried her face in them with a groan.

“Of course.”

“She approves, you know,” Asami assured her. Korra turned her head to look up at her.

“And your uncle? I’m more concerned about what he thinks. He’s the one with the cattle prod.”

Asami laughed. “He doesn’t know yet, but I’ll let you know if you need to run when he figures it out.”

Korra rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks.”

“Any time,” Asami replied as she leaned down to peck Korra on the cheek. When she pulled back she saw Korra beam up at her. “I’ll see you later.”

“Hey Asami?” Korra called just as Asami opened the car door. She turned back to see Korra sitting back up again and leaning on the center console.

“Yes?”

“Are you free Saturday? There’s something I’d like to show you.”

“Is it another abandoned school?” Asami asked with a raised eyebrow.

Korra rolled her eyes. “Trust me, you’ll like this way better.”

“I don’t know,” Asami teased, leaning just a little bit closer, “I liked that school quite a lot, especially the roof.”

“Well then I’ll just have to make sure you really enjoy this surprise then, won’t I?” Korra challenged. The look in her eyes sent a small, excited thrill through Asami’s body.

“I guess you will,” she whispered. Korra smiled before closing the distance between them.

Whatever it was that Korra had planned, Asami hoped it involved more of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...yeah, it's been over half a year since I updated this fic. I don't have any excuses for why it took so long...
> 
> I am not a fan of the "lack of communication leading to drama" trope constantly used for fic, so I'm saying screw that and having them talk about this now. There will be other reasons for drama later, I can assure you of that. *cackles evilly*
> 
> Enjoy the update! And get ready for some fluff in the next chapter :D


	16. Sunny and 75

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra takes Asami to a place where they can have a little summertime fun, but things start to get a little deep.

“You really have a thing for surprises, don’t you?” Asami asked as she stepped under the barbed wire Korra was holding up for her.

“What can I say? I like the thrill,” Korra explained with a smirk as she let the wire drop back into place. She reached over and took Asami’s hand before guiding them into the woods. “Plus your reactions always make them worth the effort.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, your eyes do this thing where they go super wide and look like they’re sparkling. It’s cute.”

Asami blushed, but squeezed Korra’s hand as a silent thank you for the compliment.

She had no idea where they were heading. Korra had been resolute about not revealing anything beforehand. There were a few clues that lead her to a theory, namely the requirements of an older pair of shoes and wearing a bathing suit underneath her shorts and tank top. The other, newer clues she had were her surroundings. She knew they were at the back corner of Korra’s family’s land and were heading into uncharted territory, at least for her. The woods around them were surprisingly open and gave plenty of space to walk between the lanky tree trunks. Light filtered through the green canopy above just enough to light up the ground with little spaces of light, and the leaves scattered about crunched beneath their feet.

A gently growing noise made Asami peer ahead, and soon they stood on a slightly raised bank above a flowing creek. The water meandered side to side, outlined by sand, as if a giant snake had wandered through ages ago and left its mark. Ahead Asami could see a fallen tree lying across the banks like a natural bridge suspended by roots and branches that disappeared into the dirt.

“This isn’t the surprise,” Korra explained as she let go of Asami’s hand. She jumped down onto the sand below, sinking just a little bit before turning back to her. “This is just the lead up to it.”

“If this is just the lead up, I can’t imagine what the real surprise is going to be like,” Asami replied. Korra reached up, and Asami took her hand and gently walked herself down the side of the bank. The dirt was loose, however, and her foot slipped just before she reached the bottom. Asami stumbled forward, but she felt Korra’s hands wrap around the sides of her waist to steady her before she tumbled further. Asami’s hands gripped Korra’s shoulder and forearm, and for a moment she was distracted by the firmness of the latter.

“You okay?” Korra asked, and Asami looked up. A small blush spread across her cheeks in reaction to their proximity, and she smiled sheepishly.

“Yeah, thanks for the catch.”

Korra smiled back and leaned in to give her a quick peck on the lips. “Any time,” she whispered as she pulled away. Asami pouted a little bit; she had been hoping for more. It wasn’t every day you fell into the arms of the girl you liked a la sappy romance novel. Korra noticed and chuckled.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time for more once we get to the surprise.”

Asami raised an eyebrow. “I’m holding you to that.”

Korra laughed and let her go before turning to the creek. She walked forward, and Asami was surprised when she walked right into the water, shoes and all.

“You’re not going to take your shoes off?” she asked. Korra half turned to her and shrugged.

“The water won’t kill ‘em. Besides, they’re old shoes anyways.”

Asami looked down at her own old sneakers and realized that the theory she’d had about the surprise wasn’t totally wrong.

They continued on down the creek, walking right in the shallow water. It only came just above her toes, but it was enough to thoroughly soak her shoes and socks. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother her. In fact, it felt great. Asami admired the small ripples in the sand around her and the occasional dots of light reflected on the water’s surface. As they ducked under the fallen tree, Asami couldn’t help but wonder if she’d somehow wandered into a dream world. The beauty of everything around her certainly didn’t feel real.

Her eyes landed on Korra as she walked ahead. She seemed the most dream-like of all.

A few minutes later the creek began to widen and the trees dispersed suddenly to reveal a sight that made Asami gasp out loud. Before them was a wide expanse of river. Tall reeds lined the back of the shore before cutting off to sandy banks that meandered like the creek banks did, only on a much larger scale. Little islands of sand rose up slightly in the river in random shapes and patterns and made sudo stepping stones to the other side. The water was muddy – filled with sand and silt if the banks were any indication – but took on a blue color farther downstream, and still shimmered brightly in the afternoon sun.

“Wow,” Asami breathed, “this is…I can’t find the words to explain how beautiful this is.”

“So I’m guessing that means you like the surprise?” Korra asked. Asami turned to her and let out a quick laugh as a smile spread across her face.

“I love it! Korra this is amazing, thank you so much for bringing me here,” Asami exclaimed before hugging her tightly. She could feel Korra’s smile against her neck as she hugged her back.

“You’re welcome,” she replied as they separated. “I figured this would be a nice way to spend an afternoon, especially with how hot it’s been.”

“This is definitely a nice change of pace. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Korra tilted her head slightly. “Really? You’ve never been to a river before?”

Asami shrugged as they walked onto the sand. “I grew up in the city, and my father preferred to spend time together working on cars, so we never really got out into the countryside much. There was the river that ran through the city, but it didn’t look anything like this. More concrete surrounding it than actual sand or rocks, and that’s not even mentioning the quality of the water.”

Korra’s nose wrinkled. “Gross.”

Asami nodded. “Yeah. This though…this is something else.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Korra replied with a smile.

They stopped just before the sands gave way to water, and Korra began to peel her wet shoes and socks off her feet. Asami copied her and relished the feeling of her bare feet sinking into the damp sands. It was a sensation she hadn’t experienced in a long time, not since her mother had passed away. What she had told Korra about never seeing a river like this was true, but she failed to mention the trips to the beach when she was younger. It wasn’t something she felt like bringing up, not now. That conversation could come later. Right now she just wanted to enjoy this moment.

Before she could react, Korra suddenly leapt feet first into the water. It was shallower than Asami had expected, and the water Korra stomped into came splashing up into her face. Asami backpedaled and few steps and sputtered. As she wiped the water off her face she heard Korra laugh. Her navy blue tank top and gray board shorts were covered in damp spots, and she stood there in the ankle deep water with a cheeky grin on her face.

_So that’s how she wants to play this, huh?_

A mischievous grin spread across her face before she sprinted forward. Korra’s eyes went wide and she barely had time to move before Asami stomped hard down into the water in front of her, once again sending it flying everywhere.

The resulting water fight that ensued was, in a word, childish, but in the best possible way. They ran around in the shallow waters, splashing and knocking each other over every chance they got until they were both completely soaked. Their shared laughter filled the quiet countryside.

Finally, Korra walked back to where they had left their shoes and fell back into the sand with a loud huff. Her arms spread out beside her and she shut her eyes against the sun. She was still giggling, and Asami admired the look of pure bliss on her face.

“I haven’t had that much fun in so long,” Korra breathed out. Asami walked over and sat down beside her.

“Same. I’m going to need a minute to catch my breath after all that running.”

“Don’t tell me you’re tired already?”

Asami scoffed. “Please, I have more stamina than you think.”

Korra propped herself up on her forearms, and when Asami turned to look at her she saw a suggestive look cross her face. “Really? Do tell…”

Asami caught her innuendo and her face immediately went red. She’d set herself up for that one, but she hadn’t been expecting the way Korra has said it and the way she’d looked at her. Something about it sent all kinds of new sensations through her and triggered a bit of sensory overload.

Korra must have noticed because she immediately sat upright. “Wait, shit, that was too much wasn’t it? Fuck, I’m so sorry Asami, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“N-No, it’s fine,” Asami replied quickly. Korra shook her head.

“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have assumed that was okay. You said you wanted to figure things out first, and of course I turn around and say something like THAT,” Korra ranted, gesturing angrily into the air.

“Korra, really, it’s okay,” Asami said, reaching out to take Korra’s hand as it fell. “To be fair, we haven’t exactly talked about that side of things yet.”

Korra looked at their joined hands before meeting her eyes. She sighed and dropped their intertwined hands down into the sand. “It’s not something we have to talk about, not yet. I don’t want you to feel like you have to.”

Asami squeezed her hand. “I wouldn’t mind talking about it. In fact, it would probably be good if we did, just to make sure we’re on the same page.” Asami paused. “Unless you’re uncomfortable talking about it?”

“I…” Korra began, but she hesitated as she searched for the words to say. “I mean, I’m not uncomfortable with the subject, it just feels a little weird talking about it this soon. Mako and I didn’t bring it up until we had dated for over a month.”

Asami pushed away the mental images that popped into her head and looked out at the water. “But you did talk about it?”

Korra was quiet for a moment, and when Asami looked back over at her she saw the hint of a smirk on her lips.

“What?”

“Nothing. You’re just cute when you’re jealous.”

Asami glared at her. “I am not jealous.”

“You so are.”

“I am not!”

“Alright, whatever you say city girl,” Korra teased. Asami huffed in response.

“What about you…when do you usually get to this conversation?” Korra asked. Asami opened her mouth, closed it, and looked away in embarrassment.

“What?” Korra asked. Asami didn’t say anything at first, but the gentle squeeze she felt from Korra’s hand gave her the courage to speak.

“I’ve…never had that conversation.”

“Wait, really?” Korra asked. Asami looked up to see genuine surprise on her face. It vaguely reminded her of the judgmental looks the girls back home would give her, and her walls came up instinctively.

“Yes really,” she snapped, perhaps a little harsher than was warranted. Korra immediately backtracked.

“I-I’m not judging you, honest. It’s not a big deal if you haven’t. I just imagined you’d dated before. I mean, you’re pretty enough that someone would have to be an idiot not to want to date you.”

Asami raised an eyebrow. “Nice save Casanova. And I have dated before, thank you very much.”

Korra laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. “Sorry. Again, I shouldn’t have assumed.”

Asami breathed out, willing herself to relax. Those damn walls of hers were so stubborn, and it was hard to bring them back down once they were up. Still, unlike the girls back home, she knew that Korra’s apology was genuine. She had no reason to feel so defensive around her. She couldn’t, not if she wanted this – whatever it was – to work.

This was going to be a long conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See the next sudo-chapter for comments on the changes to this chapter.


	17. Who Are You When I'm Not Looking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami opens up to Korra about her past relationships and comes to a huge revelation.

To say that she was nervous was a gross understatement. Asami felt like a rubber band stretched too far, tense and shaky at even the slightest touch. Even the increasing beat of her heart was like someone was continually plucking at it, which didn’t help her think.

Where should she start? What did she even want to say? She’d already mentioned dating other people before, but they were all boys – “men” wasn’t really the right word for most of them – and those relationships never lasted very long. There was one exception, but without the right context it wouldn’t make sense to open with that. She and Korra had talked all summer, and yet Asami had never gone very deep into her past, about her family, her relationships, or anything really. It wasn’t that she had anything to hide, she just wasn’t used to sharing that much with other people. She always felt the need to be careful, but with Korra…

_Maybe now I can fix that._

“Asami?”

Korra’s voice startled Asami. She blinked back to reality and saw the cowgirl staring at her with concern in her blue eyes.

“You okay? You spaced out for a second there.”

“Just…trying to figure out where to start,” Asami replied. “There’s a lot to explain.”

“You make it sound like we’re about to get your tragic backstory or something,” Korra teased. Asami rolled her eyes and smirked, but it faded as she realized Korra wasn’t exactly wrong. Korra noticed and released her hand to place her own on Asami’s shoulder.

“Hey,” she said gently, “you don’t have to talk about this. We can save it for another day.”

Asami shook her head. “I only have so many days with you Korra. I’d rather do this now.”

Korra nodded. She rubbed her thumb back and forth across her shoulder, and Asami was grateful for the touch. It was calming.

Asami took a breath.

_Might as well start at the beginning._

“I lost my mother when I was six years old. It hurt, but it hurt even more for my father. She was everything to him, and he wasn’t the same afterwards. He shut down for a while, but eventually he got back on his feet, focused on his work again and on making sure I had the best life possible. But we could both tell that something was missing in our lives after that. Somehow I guess my dad figured if he couldn’t find someone to fill the gap, at least I could.

“So, around when I turned thirteen, my father began inviting business friends over who also conveniently had boys my age. He claimed the meetings were purely business, but I was smart enough to know he had other motives. The problem was that most of the boys were either too shy or too full of themselves for me to actually build a relationship with them. Occasionally one would seem nice and we’d start dating, but I soon realized they were only interested in me because I was a key to my father’s business.”

Asami paused as a nostalgic smile spread across her face.

“But then I found Li. We met freshman year at my private school and just clicked. He was smart, handsome, considerate, and so sweet. He always made a point to visit me after school to ask how my day was, and then we’d go window shopping for cars or explore Chinatown together. I really liked being around him.”

“Sounds like he was a nice guy,” Korra commented. Asami glanced over and saw the cowgirl staring out at the river with a blank expression, but that only made what she was thinking more obvious.

“Look who’s jealous now,” she teased. Korra whipped her head back over and Asami saw a blush rise on her cheeks.

“I am not!”

“Don’t even try, I can tell that you are.”

“…Whatever,” Korra huffed before turning back to the river with an obvious pout on her face. Asami giggled.

Silence settled over them. Asami’s mood darkened as the memories came back to her. 

“We broke up the next year.”

Korra looked back over, a curious look in her eyes. “But it sounded like he was Mr. Perfect. What happened?”

Asami looked away. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. This was going to be the hard part. This was something that she had been confused about for years and had only now found a possible answer to, and even then the answer had terrified her for weeks. She was just starting to accept that it was okay, but years of internalized prejudice was making it difficult.

Still, she knew that Korra would be the last person to judge her. And she knew that talking about it was the first step to real acceptance.

“I…”

She swallowed.

“I realized that it didn’t feel right. Sure everything was fine on the surface, but there was this nagging feeling that wouldn’t stop appearing every time I kissed him. I couldn’t explain it and I hated it. Here was this great guy who actually cared about me, and I couldn’t reciprocate his feelings. It just…felt forced. And I knew that if I couldn’t do that genuinely it wasn’t fair to him, so I ended the relationship.

“My father was devastated when I told him. He thought I had finally found someone like he had found my mother, and then I suddenly cut things off. He didn’t know what to think.”

Asami sighed. “I didn’t know what to think either. A part of me thought I was being selfish and that I should just suck it up, go back, apologize to Li, and beg him to take me back. But every time I thought about it that little feeling would pop up, and I knew that if I did I would regret it. So I never went back.”

Asami scowled at the water and her grip tightened.

“Of course word got around at my school. The other girls wondered why I’d give up someone so perfect, and then rumors popped up. No one would say them to my face, but I overheard enough in the bathrooms and the hallways. Half of those girls didn’t know me, and they had no idea how I felt. I didn’t even know how I felt. All I knew was that there was this stupid thing holding me back that I couldn’t explain.”

“Judgmental pricks.”

Asami turned and looked at Korra. “What?”

“Those girls at your school,” she explained. “They sound like a bunch of assholes. If I ever visit your city I’m gonna kick their asses for being jerks to you.”

The agitation that had built in Asami’s shoulders faded, and she laughed as Korra pretended to crack her knuckles. Her signature crooked grin was spread across her face, and Asami found her bravado incredibly endearing.

“What exactly did they say anyways?” Korra asked suddenly.

“They, um,” Asami started, not entirely sure how to approach the subject she knew was coming, “they assumed I was a…a lesbian, or something.”

“Oh. Well that’s not so bad,” Korra replied with a shrug. Asami’s brows furrowed.

“What do you mean “not so bad”? I hated hearing them say those things about me!”

“What’s so bad about being called a lesbian?” Korra defended. Asami opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again, completely at a loss for words. She knew there was nothing wrong with it, but it was never something she associated with herself before.

“I hated that they just assumed I was because I wasn’t interested in this one guy. It’s not that I don’t like guys, I just hadn’t found the right one yet! At least, I thought I hadn’t at the time, and then you came along and…well…I guess they were right.”

Korra was silent. Her eyes focused intently on her again, only this time she seemed to closely analyze her. Asami felt herself squirm a bit under her gaze. Finally, something seemed to click in Korra’s mind and a huge grin spread across her face.

“Oooooh, I think I know what’s going on.”

Asami gave her a dubious look. “…You do?”

“Yeah, at least I think so. Can I offer you an idea? I don’t want to assume anything, but hear me out first.”

“Okay,” Asami replied cautiously.

“Have you heard the term “bisexual” before?”

Asami blinked. “Yeah.”

“You know what it means?”

“It’s someone who likes guys and girls, right?”

“Exactly!” Korra replied with a smile. “Based on everything you’ve said, it sounds like you could fall into that camp.”

Asami’s mind went into overdrive. It kept wanting to say that wasn’t possible, that someone couldn’t like both genders at the same time. They had to go with one or the other, didn’t they? And yet, the more she thought about it, the more Asami realized that wasn’t right. She could remember passing girls on the street with Li and admiring their hair or their body. She could see the beauty in them even when she was dating a guy, so who was to say she couldn’t see the beauty in both? Maybe she had all along and she just never let herself explore the other side until she met Korra.

“I…I think you just blew my mind.”

The awestruck look on her face must have been something to see, because Korra started laughing. She laughed so hard that she fell back into the sand, her legs kicking in the air a little as she clutched her stomach. It was infectious, and soon Asami found herself joining in. She fell right back into the sand with the cowgirl and laughed until her chest hurt.

Asami felt like her world had just been flipped upside down, again, only this time everything seemed to make more sense. She was far from understanding exactly what was going on with her and Korra, but to finally be a little closer to understanding her side of things…well, that was a great step forward.

“Wow,” Asami wheezed, “I can’t believe I never thought of that.”

“Hey, no worries,” Korra replied, turning her head to meet Asami’s eyes. “It’s not always that obvious. Believe me, I learned the hard way.”

“Wait,” Asami said as she propped herself up on her elbow, “are you bisexual too?”

“Yep!” Korra exclaimed. “I’m bi and I ain’t shy!”

Asami snorted. “Did you come up with that one yourself?”

Korra leaned up on her own elbow so they were at equal eye-level again. “Hey, I can be very clever. You should know that by now.”

Asami chuckled. “So how did you figure out you were…bi? Sorry, saying it out loud still feels weird.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Korra explained, “and I figured it out by kissing a girl on my middle school softball team.”

Asami’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah…” Korra rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. “Not one of my greatest moments. I misread some signs and went for it, and she panicked because she didn’t want the team to find out. ‘Course growing up in a small town, everyone knows everything sooner or later, but most of the girls on the team didn’t really care. Hell most people at school didn’t care either. It not like two girls kissing is the weirdest thing to ever happen in this town.”

Asami raised an eyebrow. She was going to have to ask about those weirder stories later.

“My issue was that I thought I was a lesbian,” Korra continued, “but then I started liking Mako and everything I thought I knew flew out the window. It wasn’t until I asked my dad about it that he pointed me to some websites, and that’s how I found out about bisexuality.”

“How did your dad know about it?” Asami asked. She knew that if she had gone to her father about something like this he wouldn’t have had a clue. He might have had some words to say, but not very useful ones.

Korra shrugged. “Perks of having a politician as a father. He has to stay up to date on the big issues. It comes in handy. But, yeah, after I did a little research I realized that it just made sense, you know?”

“Yeah,” Asami replied, “I think I know what you mean.”

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, allowing the warm afternoon sun to dry them off. Asami was glad Korra had told her to wear a bathing suit because she was starting to get hot. She sat up and reached for the hem of her shirt, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed Korra staring at her.

“You don’t mind if I take this off, do you? I’m about to die in this heat,” she explained. Korra started a bit, apparently not realizing that she had been caught.

“N-No, not at all. It’s just this is the first time I’ve seen you in a bathing suit. You didn’t have one back at the pool.”

Asami took off her shirt and threw it over towards her shoes, sighing happily at the warmth of the sun on her stomach. She didn’t fail to notice how bright red Korra’s face had turned.

_Score one for the strapless option._

“Now you know how I felt that day,” she teased with a smirk on her face. Korra’s dumbstruck look made her laugh, but soon she felt her own blush rise on her face as Korra removed her shirt too. The green halter top was back, and so were her shoulders and upper arms.

_Oh there is no way I’m straight._

There was a slight air of discomfort between them as they both sat nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with just their shorts and bathing suit tops on. Asami knew at this point that they were both in awe of each other, but neither really knew how to react or what was even the proper way to do so.

“Um,” Korra began, breaking the silence, “we never got around to our original topic, did we?”

Asami smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I unloaded a lot of extra stuff there. I just figured without the context it wouldn’t make sense.”

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m glad you felt okay telling me all that. I like learning about you,” Korra replied with a smile. “And I guess you did kind of answer; it sounded like kissing was the farthest you went?”

“Yeah,” Asami answered. “Li and I kept things pretty docile. Again, the whole “something not feeling right” kept us from doing anything…more.”

“Okay,” Korra said, a thoughtful look coming to her face. Asami noticed her hesitation, but waited until she figured out what she wanted to say. “Do you…” she began again slowly. “Do you want to? Do more.”

Asami paused. No one had actually asked her that outright before. Sometimes the guys she had dated before Li would try pushing her that route, but she was always quick to stop them before they could get very far – her father’s insistence on self-defense training came in handy once or twice. With Korra, however, things felt different. For the first time in her life she actually felt like she wanted to explore a little. She knew she could trust Korra to stop if something didn’t feel right too.

“…I think I’d like to.”

Korra beamed at her. “Awesome!” she exclaimed, but then paused mid fist-pump. “I mean, that’s cool, no pressure though. We’re taking this slooow.” Asami couldn’t help laughing at Korra’s attempt to hide her excitement.

“Soo…is there anything you’ve ever wanted to try?” she asked. Asami thought for a minute.

“Actually, there is something I’ve been curious about.”

“Oh?” Korra pressed.

Asami felt heat rise into her cheeks at the thought. Truth be told she’d seen it in a movie once and had always wanted to try it.

“I’ve always wondered what a neck kiss is like.”

She watched as Korra processed the words and saw a smile creep onto her face. It wasn’t as suggestive as the one from earlier, but it still made Asami shiver a little in anticipation.

“I think I can help with that,” she whispered as she leaned in closer. “But we can’t just start with that.”

Asami swallowed hard. “N-No?”

“Nope,” Korra answered, her signature smirk appearing on her face. “We have to build up to it…”

Korra’s lips were suddenly on her own, and all thoughts left Asami’s mind. She felt Korra’s hands cradle the back of her head, pulling her closer as her fingers tangled into the hair at the base of her neck. Asami reached up to place her hands on Korra’s shoulders, and she was so distracted by the initial kiss that she completely forgot her shoulders were bare. The warmth of Korra’s skin under her fingers sent a shock through Asami’s system. Something seemed to take hold of her mind, willing her hands to slide over Korra’s shoulders and down to the middle of her back. Every new inch of skin she touched was intoxicating.

Suddenly she felt one of Korra’s hands sliding down her own back, and she gasped into Korra’s mouth.

_Oh my god…_

Korra leaned back suddenly, and Asami nearly whined at the loss. When she opened her eyes, however, she saw a slightly concerned look on the cowgirl’s face.

“This isn’t too much, is it?”

Asami laughed breathlessly. Without a word she reached back up to Korra’s cheeks and pulled her back in for another kiss. She felt Korra smile against her mouth.

“I’ll take that as a no,” she mumbled between kisses. Asami stopped for a moment to rest her forehead against Korra’s, both of them panting as they tried to catch their breath.

“I promise I’ll let you know when it’s too much,” Asami said. She looked right into Korra’s eyes as she said it, and she saw the doubt hiding there vanish. They began kissing again, but this time it was slower, more controlled. That didn’t diminish the energy behind it. If anything it only made the kiss that much more passionate.

Korra pressed forward, and Asami felt an arm wrap around her back as she was gently guided downward. Asami’s hands never left Korra’s face as her bare shoulders sank into the sand, followed by her back as Korra’s arm shifted to rest by her side and hold her torso up. She still felt Korra’s stomach settle against her side a bit, and the new skin contact made her shiver. Meanwhile, Korra’s free hand came up to brush Asami’s cheek before moving to sweep her hair away from her neck. Korra broke their kiss, but then Asami felt her lips press gently against her jaw. They continued farther up to just under her ear before shifting to her neck, and Asami swore she felt her heart skip a beat. The softness of her lips and the warmth of her breath against her bare skin felt incredible. The lower Korra kissed, the more Asami felt her heart pound in her chest.

Just when she thought things couldn’t get any better, Asami felt teeth gently graze the skin at the base of her neck, and she let out a soft, involuntary moan. Korra looked up, and Asami opened her eyes to see a mixture of surprise and smugness on her face.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that you liked that?”

Asami rolled her eyes. “What do you think?”

“I think I’d love to hear that sound again,” Korra replied.

Asami was more than happy to oblige as long as she kept doing that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, the fixed conversation between Asami and Korra at the river. This feels more like what I originally wanted to happen between them. The pieces about Asami and Korra's confusion with their sexualities were especially important to me, especially because I wanted to establish clearly that they are both bisexual. I can't believe I almost missed the opportunity to write about that. (A huge thank you again to **vlad** for catching my mistake!)
> 
> Lesson learned!
> 
> And don't worry, I didn't forget to keep that steamy bit from the end. If anything I think I made it better this time around ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy! Thanks for reading!
> 
> The titles of all these chapters are names of country songs, and I'll post what they are here. Sometimes the title matches with the chapter's theme. Sometimes the feel of the music matches instead. And sometimes it's a single line. They're all chosen for a reason, however, and it's up to you to figure out which chapters are which cases. ;)
> 
> Also, if anyone spots any grammar or spelling errors, feel free to point them out! All I ask is that you're courteous about it.
> 
> \-----  
> PSA: In the past I've used a side blog on tumblr for this story called "southernepy", but I'm gonna delete that and just use my main blog now. It's "your-reference-here". Feel free to come say hi any time!
> 
> \-----  
> Chapter One: _That Don't Impress Me Much_ by Shania Twain  
>  Chapter Two: _Remember When_ by Alan Jackson  
>  Chapter Three: _Ready To Run_ by Dixie Chicks  
>  Chapter Four: _I Got A Car_ by George Strait  
>  Chapter Five: _Where I Come From_ by Montgomery Gentry  
>  Chapter Six: _Beautiful Mess_ by Diamond Rio  
>  Chapter Seven: _Come Over_ by Kenny Chesney  
>  Chapter Eight: _Tattoos On This Town_ by Jason Aldean  
>  Chapter Nine: _How Country Feels_ by Randy Houser  
>  Chapter Ten: _Water_ by Brad Paisley  
>  Chapter Eleven: _As She's Walking Away_ by Zac Brown Band feat. Alan Jackson  
>  Chapter Twelve: _Fly Over States_ by Jason Aldean  
>  Chapter Thirteen: _(Kissed You) Good Night_ by Gloriana  
>  Chapter Fourteen: _A Real Fine Place to Start_ by Sara Evans  
>  Chapter Fifteen: _Just a Kiss_ by Lady Antebellum  
>  Chapter Sixteen: _Sunny and 75_ by Joe Nichols  
>  Chapter Seventeen: _Who Are You When I'm Not Looking_ by Blake Shelton


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